


Those Summer Nights

by CharlotteGoldfinch



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: (as if you didn't know), Also there is this:, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Grease, Alternate Universe - No Band, Angst, Anxiety, Bathroom Sex, Bottom Tyler, Coming Out, Eventual Smut, First Date, First Kiss, First Time, First Time Blow Jobs, Grease AU, Hospitals, I guess putting blurry as a character now, Josh is a tease, Josh is still partially in the closet, Josh smokes recreationally, Loss of Virginity, M/M, More tags and relationships and characters to be added, Public Blow Jobs, Public Sex, Rating changed due to smut, Sex, Smoking, Smut, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Therapy, Therapy Session, There will be more smut dont you worry about that, Top Josh, Tyler is very feminine, Tyler likes it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-03 19:42:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 32,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8727733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharlotteGoldfinch/pseuds/CharlotteGoldfinch
Summary: Josh always loved summer vacation. He liked to be able to go crazy and have fun for 5 months. Then he met a guy before he was set to come back home. He exchanges his number,  but he never hears from him again. Maybe it wasn't meant to be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> OK so you guys have seen that photo of Josh in leather overall''s right? If not you go Google that right now.  
> I just wanted a Gay Grease Joshler AU okay? There might be smut, i don't know yet. I'll add more tag's and characters and any triggers that come up in the fic, but ye I hope you like it and leave comments and feedback and kudos. ILY! ♡

One of Josh Dun’s favourite thing about Summer is that it lasted for a long time. However, one of Josh Dun’s least favourite thing about Summer was that it had to end. This summer, he spent all 5 months on some beach on the East Coast. Waking up at 12pm, surfing at 2pm, and then getting drunk, a little bit high, fooling around with as many people as possible until midnight, and then the cycle continued. Every single day for 5 months. He never wanted summer to end...but all good things had to come to an end.

  
The week before he was due to go back, he spent a lot of time with one person in particular. He doesn’t remember their name, he’s drank too much and slept too little to remember a detail like that. This person was almost making the week drag out, sure they didn’t get high with him, or drink like him, and maybe they were a little more sensible about what time they went to bed and slept in till, they helped Josh really remember that last week of Summer before his final year of school came about.

  
“You’ll keep in touch with me right? I’ve had too much fun with you, and man I really don’t want to go back to Ohio.” Josh was covered in a light spray of the sea, and was walking down the beach with his friend.

  
“Of course! There is no way I wouldn’t. What’s your number? I’ll put it in my phone when I get back to the beach shack I’m in.” The person who he was hanging out with, whose name he had remembered by now, Tyler, looked up at him. He was wearing a black flowered kimono over a tank top and jeans, which were black and cut off around the knees - in 60 degree heat. He must have been boiling.

  
“uh, hang on. I’m gonna need a pen,” Josh said – he definitely wasn’t the kind of teen you’d see with a pen on them in school, Summer was not an exception to that rule.

  
“I’ve got one. And paper too, actually,” Tyler laughed, slipping a black pocket book from his jeans and ripping out a page. “Here.”

  
Josh got his phone from his beach shorts and opened it for his number. Scrawling it onto the page, he wrote “JOSH” underneath in bold letters before handing it back to him.

  
“I’ll text you as soon as I’m back in my room. God, I don’t want to go home either. My parents have some big surprise for me planned and they aren’t telling me until after the holiday finishes.”

  
“well you be sure to tell me what that surprise is when you get to know it.” Josh was slipping his phone back into his pocket. Tyler had an idea.

  
“wait, I know! We should take a picture, the two of us. That way you can put it as my contact picture. Y’know...in case you wanna see my face. I mean we don’t have to?” Tyler kicked the sand below his feet as he stopped in place, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck, almost fearing rejection.

  
“Oh no, that’s a great idea. Come on, huddle on in here,” he laughed, sliding the camera on his phone open and making sure it was on the front facing camera. “Say Cheese!” he grinned, snapping the photo. He looked back at the photo by Tyler’s insistence and smiled a little. His grin showed his perfect teeth and his eyes were almost closed with how happy he was. Tyler had a small grin on his face too, a slight glimpse of teeth and bright eyes. Both their heads of hair were unkempt from the wind and ocean spray, but they looked happy.

  
Little did he know that would be the only time he’d get to see Tyler’s face again in person. Because Tyler never did text him when he saw him off at the cabin. He waited until school started, but still no message. It wasn’t as though he could text them or look them up online. All he knew was that their name was Tyler. He kept the photo as a reminder of him and the amazing summer they had together. He just wished that he had gotten to know Tyler more.

  
*

  
Josh had skated to school on the first day of school after his car had broken down, his bike had a flat, and he missed the bus. His hair – it was purple now, after the blue had washed out over the summer – was hidden under his cap, and although it was now Autumn, he denied wearing a jacket. He only wore jackets when he was with his clique and even then it was a leather jacket detailed with his name and his cliques name on the back of it. He never wore it when he was alone, he always had to be with somebody. On his back was a plain black backpack, which held the bare minimum – a book for what few notes he’d write, a pen, and his leather jacket.

  
He skated onto the campus of South High School, an old building with some attempts of modernisation which hadn’t been there before Summer started. His clique were around on one of the modernisations – a circular metal table and bench. The table was being used as a seat rather than a table by 3 guys. They all jeered with excitement when Josh showed up, holding his skateboard by his trucks, holding the handle of his backpack so it was dangerously close to dragging on the floor.

  
“Dun! How was your summer man!” One of the guys, Brendon asked. Josh spared the details and just said it was a ‘good’ summer. The others joked that he was hiding all the good information and vowed that they get it to come out some how.

  
“Anyway, one of you guys move your asses, I’m tired and I wanna relax before they drag me back in there,” he laughed, pushing another, Pete, off the table, laughing even harder as he fell onto the floor, trying to style it off with a back flip.

  
“Hey have you heard the buzz? The girls have been saying there’s a new kid starting today.” Pete said, who had now dusted himself down of any dirt and was on his phone, backpack shrugged onto one shoulder.

  
“New kid huh? Who’s this new kid? They cute, cause if they ain’t, then I’m out,” Josh joked, taking a Red Bull that was offered to him and cracking it open before taking a swig.

  
“Well I don’t think he’ll even be the one for you. Because this new kids a guy, and his names Tyler Joseph.”

  
Josh subsequently choked on the drink. Could just be a coincidence that a guy called Tyler is starting at his school. It probably isn’t the Tyler he met... surely?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> well looky here who Josh meets >:)  
> also Josh is a jerk-ass High School student who likes to run his mouth at teachers  
> he also smokes sorry if u don't like that ♥ it won't happen much i promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [i just really wanted to get this chapter up because of the feedback i've received already u guys r great u honestly are. anyway yeah enjoy this one, give feedback, and answer my q in the second note section if u want]

Josh still struggled to take it all in, his throat almost burning up from choking and then swallowing the Red Bull that was in his mouth. There was a kid, named Tyler, joining his school. It had to be some kind of mistake. He drank the rest of his can down and crushed it in his hand. “Right guys, I have got to go take care of a little business elsewhere. I’ll see you in Home Period?” he made a shot at getting the can in the bin that was roughly 10 feet away from him, hearing the collective murmurs behind him as they all agreed they'd see him later.

Before he left though, he took his jacket from his bag, shrugging it on and dropping the skateboard to the floor, starting to make his way around campus. He looked out for the new kid, as if by some wild possibility it would be the Tyler from his holidays.

“Mr Dun, you know that skateboarding on campus is forbidden. You’ll need to stop doing that,” a teacher called out, distracting him from his search.

“Get bent, man. It’s not like I’m gonna knock someone down or somethi-” his sentence was cut off, by knocking someone down, or something. “Shit. I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there, hang on let me help you or something.” Josh was trying to get himself up off who he had fallen into, who was wearing shorts, matched with mock-stocking tights and a vest. The legs were quite nice; he had to admit that to himself. “Are you okay? Do you need help getting up?”

“Nah, I’m good,” the person said, bringing their legs to kneel on and dusting themselves off.

It surprised Josh a little. Ass and legs in shorts like those had to belong to a chick, but no he had just fallen on top of the best looking guys on campus. Was it Jason? Nah, he wasn’t bold enough to wear shorts. Jackson? No... But it could’ve been Dixon. There were a lot of cute guys on campus, really. It kind of sucked that Josh couldn’t exactly say that, what with him being leader of his clique. If they found out he was gay or something he’d probably not be taken seriously anymore, or even worse, thrown out of his own clique.

“Haven’t seen you around here before, what’s your name?”

“Well I thought you’d remember, we did spend the last week of summer together.”

That’s when it clicked and all of the puzzle pieces fell into place. “Oh my God... Tyler?”

They finally stood up and turned around. “I knew you couldn’t forget a pretty face like mine. You look, good in leather, by the way.” Tyler laughed a little. He put his hands into the pockets of his shorts, rocking back and forth on his heels. “Well… This was the surprise my parents didn’t want to tell me about. They moved me all the way from California to Ohio because my dad got transferred to the city. I would’ve called you but my mom washed my shorts before I had the chance to text you. I was absolutely annoyed at her, as you could guess. Never thought I’d see you again. How have you been?”

 _Oh, you know, just looking at that photo of us waiting for you to text me or call me or something so I knew you hadn’t fallen off the face of the earth._ “I’ve been good. Yeah, I’ve been real good. Man, when they say the first day of your last year of High School is going to be good, they weren’t kidding.”

Tyler laughed a little, adjusting the bag on his back, which Josh had the opportunity to look at properly. It looked like his sisters backpack. But then, his clothes weren’t exactly screaming macho man. His vest had flowers on the neck line and his shorts were almost like booty shorts. The most macho thing about him was possibly the tattoos on his chest that he could just about see through his vest. Not that Josh was complaining.

“Hey Dun, you coming or what?” his friend Mark called over to him, the guys were getting ready to sneak a smoke before the first bell went.

“Uh, yeah. Just a minute! I’ll see you around, okay Ty?” he smiled, patting his shoulder and rushing off to join them.

“So who’s your friend?” Mark quipped. “And why are they dressing like a chick?”

“I dunno, why are you dressed like a 70’s porn star? Come on man, you’ve been trying to grow that ‘stache since first year. Just face it man, you’ll never be able to grow anything that the girls will fawn over you.” Josh laughed as he leant up against the brick wall. “Now pass me a smoke already, we’ve got like five minutes till first bell,” he murmured, lighting up the cigarette and relishing in the familiar burn to the back of his throat.

☆

Like every new kid in school, no matter how old they were when they transferred, they always had to give the same old drivel in every single class they had for the first time. You know the one, “Hi, I’m bla-bla-bla, I just transferred from blah” and then some supposed to be interesting fact, which was actually incredibly dull and boring.

Tyler didn’t have Josh in his first class, which was English, partially one of his favourite classes because he could write and be creative.

“All right, class. We have a new student joining our class today. Tyler? Would you like to introduce yourself?” the teacher looked over and Tyler stood up, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Well, okay… Hi, everyone… I’m Tyler… Uh, I transferred here from California after my dad got a job here, and well, I write, and stuff,” he stammered out. _Fuck_ , he hated introducing himself to crowds. He sat back down as quickly as he could, and then taking his books out of his bag and starting to scrawl down some notes when the lesson started.

He kind of wanted to curl up and just hide; there was no way he was going to make any friends. Not with the impression he gave off just then. He heard someone ‘psst’ at him, gaining his attention and a folded up piece of paper was passed to him. He opened it discretely under the desk, as to not get caught by the teacher.

_You look like you could use a few friends. Why don’t you come meet us at first lunch, we’ll be in the cafeteria. Look for the girl with orange hair. That’ll be Hayley. I’m Ashley, BTW._

Tyler looked up and a girl waved at him. He assumed that was Ashley. He looked down to continue reading the note.

_Don’t worry; we aren’t all soul sucking losers like half this class and its teacher. Some of us actually like to have fun and joke around. Anyway, see you at lunch, Tyler._

It settled Tyler’s nerves that he’d have at least one friend before the end of the day. Even though he already had Josh as a friend, it seemed unlikely that he’d ever talk to him on campus again. He got derailed by thinking about the thought of Josh and their reunion for the rest of his lesson, subsequently falling behind on the first day – which wasn’t a good way to start, personally. One thing was for sure – he had to get Josh’s number, or at least pass his number on before the day was up. He concocted plans in his head which ranged from mildly to wildly impossible on how to get his number. He was shook from his thoughts when the school bell rang, dismissing them for the first lunch period.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aight so my q: should i give our precious TyJo like proper anxiety which i'll branch out in? or should i leave him as a 'normal' (loose term) student. bc i kind of like the anxiety branch/general messed up-ness but its ur guys story and like i don't want you guys to lose interest in this bc i think it has potential


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler has a little breakdown in the toilet. Josh helps him. They talk and things get cute. ❤️

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I'm updating a lot BC this is SO cute to write. Chapter three already and I only started writing at like, 2pm yesterday lol.  
> Triggers for this chapter: Anxiety, talks of breakdowns. Read with caution frens.

After packing his bag back up and leaving his English class, Tyler looked around for Josh, hoping to bump into him. He usually walked with his head down, not wanting to look at anybody, in case he looked at them funny or if they had something disconcerting to say about his fashion sense – he knew he didn’t dress like a guy should. He wore floral kimonos and shorts, and shopped in the female section of the department store. It wasn’t that he was a freak or something, he just liked wearing women’s clothing. It felt more natural to him to wear that kind of stuff. Underneath the clothes he still wore his usual briefs, purely because when it came to gym, he didn’t want the boys seeing he wore women’s clothes to the root of his nature.  
Tyler was a little distracted in remembering about the first time he was contemplating buying women’s lacy lingerie, when a store assistant came up to him.

  
“Buying that for your girlfriend? It’s our most popular style,” she had said.

  
Tyler had shook his head. “Uh...actually...no...I was...thinking of getting them for...myself,” he stammered out, pushing them back onto the hanger where they came from and walking briskly away. He had decided from that moment on that he’d never buy and browse women’s underwear unless it was bought for him, or he had a girl with him next time.

  
Whilst walking through the corridor to get to the cafeteria where Ashley would be waiting for him, his eyes still flickered over every guy who walked by him. He tried to find the purple hair that Josh was now sporting, or at least the leather jacket he was wearing. He couldn't find anybody though. Maybe he had ditched the day, or was still with his friends – you know, the ones who he actually cares about? Tyler wasn't expecting the wave of discomfort to wash over himself. He never thought about it that way. Josh would probably never want to be Tyler’s friend, they'd known each other for like a week at the end of summer. How was he supposed to know he'd end up at the same school just a few weeks later?

_  
You should probably just give up not looking for him, maybe he doesn't want to be found. I mean, you did let your mom lose his number. He might hate you. He might think you were just using him. Because that is what you are. It's what you do. You… Are… A… **User!**_

Tyler came out close to screaming in the corridor, what a great impression on the first day that'd be. A guy who wears flowers on his clothes and stockings on his legs, who also screams and pulls his hair for no reason. Instead he looked down and scrunched his eyes shut, willing the tears trying to form away and the thoughts in his head to disappear.

  
_You're just a fucked up kid ain’t you? You don't know what to do when I get into your little head. You just close your eyes like this is the fucking Wizard of Oz and you can click your heels and go home. Well wake up, this isn't a fairytale, princess. This is real life and you can't just wish everything well again._

  
Tyler changed his path, walking to find the nearest bathroom. The thoughts were almost making him want to throw up. He pushed through the crowds, rushing when he saw the bathroom come into view, throwing himself into the stall and sitting on the top of the seat, rocking himself back and forth with his head in his hands.

  
_You're just so pathetic, man! Look at you, snivelling in a fucking high school bathroom, because the voice in your head, you're very much welcome by the way, is being mean to you! What are you going to say to the teachers if this happens in class, or if you get counselling? They'll send you off and section you into a mental house. It's where you belong._

  
Tyler pulled at his hair, muttering to himself, thankful the bathroom was at least partially full so people couldn't hear him. He didn't realise how quickly people left bathrooms until it got quiet and he was still crying with his head in his hands. He also didn't realise that the tops of bathroom stalls didn't reach the ceiling. Somebody walked in, not that Tyler noticed, and heard him crying. They walked into the stall next to him, not that Tyler noticed, and locked the door. Then they stood on the toilet seat, peering over, not that Tyler noticed, until he was made to notice.

  
“Tyler? You okay man?” It was Josh. It scared the shit out of Tyler, and he stopped muttering to himself.

  
_Now he knows you're a mental kid who talks to himself in the bathroom, you idiot._

  
He attempted to mutter, “Go away,” but it came out louder than he originally wanted it to. He actually yelled it.

  
“Woah man, I just wanted to see if you're alright, that's all.”

  
“No! Wait… I'm sorry,” he murmured, sniffing and wiping his eyes. “I didn't mean to yell at you…”

  
“Well there's nobody else in here…”

  
“I was yelling at… Myself.” He must have sounded like a right freak. “I mean, my thoughts. They…well they mess me up sometimes. And I sometimes can't stand it.”

  
“Well as much as I can stand on this toilet, I'd rather not, you know? Why don't you come on out, wash your face. And uh…you know, go get something to eat.” Josh hopped down off the toilet and unlocked his stall, waiting for Tyler to come out. He was leant up against the wall by the time he came out, smiling a little. “Look I'm sorry I ditched you this morning. My friends, y’know…”

  
Tyler was a little disengaged from the conversation, focusing on washing the blotchy marks off his face and taking away the puffiness from his eyes with cold water. “It's okay,” he said quietly. “You've known them longer, I get that. They get your time before someone you met on holiday that one time.”

  
Josh was taken aback a little. “What? No, that's not the reason why… Ty, seeing you today was like… Wow. I thought I'd like…lost you forever or something. So when I saw you…or…fell on top of you.. I was so happy. I didn't even care that you had lost my number, because well, look it's just…it's hard to explain, alright? Especially in a public school bathroom where there is the possibility of anybody walking in. Pass me your phone,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck and taking out his, doing two things.

  
The first was putting his number into his phone. The second was sending the photo of them both to his phone in a text message. “Maybe we can like, go out one night, maybe Taco Bell or somewhere, and I can tell you a little more?”  
He took his phone back when he held it out, smiling a little at the photo and slipping it back into his pocket. “Yeah. I'd like that. Thanks, Josh,” he smiled a little.

  
God, Josh forgot how cute he was when he smiled. It lit his day up. His eyes went bright when he smiled, and his smile was led by half his face. It looked so cute. "Awesome. It's a date, then?” He joked, laughing a little as he wrapped his arm around his shoulders as he took him out. “Do you have anybody to sit with at lunch?”

  
“Yeah, actually, some girl named Ashley, she invited me to sit with her and a few friends. I've got to look for Hayley – I don't suppose you know who she is?”

  
“Yeah, bright orange hair, a few piercings. I'll show you where they sit once you've got your grub. I wouldn't be too overwhelmed by the food they serve, by the way. They're aren't that great at cooking edible food. Bear that in mind.”  
Josh walked into the cafeteria with them both, walking straight into the front of the line with Tyler – nobody argued, not even the teachers or chefs. They let them get their food and they paid. “Right, Hayley and her girls sit at the far table in the corner. Do you want me to walk you there?”

  
“Uh… Yeah…sure okay,” he shrugged, holding his tray of ‘food’ (mush) close to his body as he navigated through the cafeteria with him.

  
Once they walked up to the girls table, Tyler waved a little at Ashley, who had beckoned him over. “Hi… Sorry I’m a little uh…late, I guess? I got lost.” He went to gesture to Josh, but he'd long gone.

  
“Ah don't worry about that – you just need to answer this – how have you managed to get Josh Dun escorting you places, man? He's never done that for anybody before.”

  
“Really..?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler has lunch with the girls, Josh reminisces, and they plan a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on an updating train. I really rreally love this story.   
> I actually did research to look for nice neighbourly neighbourhoods on google maps to find Ty'sstreet name. [it'dbe fucking weird if it managed to be the same one o__O]   
> Q at the end o this chapter.

So Tyler was left to tell them, them being Hayley, Ashley and a few other girls he hadn’t yet heard the names of, all about how he had met Josh on holiday in California, but decided to only tell them that they’d met and gone surfing and played basketball. He had the idea that Josh didn’t exactly want to tell people they had taken photos together and that he was opting to take him on a ‘date’ (which he was still unsure of how serious he was with the term).

  
“I can tell you one thing, and that is that, Josh Dun, has never, and I mean… Never, taken the time out of his day to take someone somewhere before. New student or not, he likes to just stick with his crew, you know what I’m saying?” Ashley was picking at some fruit pieces in a plastic bag that she’d pulled out from her backpack. She must have decided against eating the cafeteria food – and by the looks of it, Tyler might end up doing so too. He made a mental note to pack a lunch before he went to bed that night and hoped that he doesn’t forget. It seemed that very few people actually ate the cafeteria food and he hated being the odd one out.

  
“Ha…yeah, I know. I think. Who are his crew? I mean I saw some of them this morning, wearing leather jackets. What’s up with that?”

  
“It’s just some dumb clique they’ve all been apart of for like, 7 years. The jackets came into play about 3 years ago. Josh is into the X-Files, and coincidentally, the rest of the group is too, so he wanted to have the motif of an alien on the back of their jackets. They haven’t got an actual name that the rest of the school knows, they're just The Alien Clique from the other students.”

  
Tyler was nodding his head, “I see…” He turned his head to look around for Josh and he found it increasingly difficult, even when it shouldn’t have been. He had bright purple hair, what was so difficult about looking for a spot of purple in a sea of blonde, black and brown?

  
“If you’re looking for him, I’d like, stop. He never hangs out in the cafeteria. He always hangs out with-”

  
“-The Alien Clique?”

  
“The Alien Clique.” It was Hayley talking to him now. “Hey, you know what, you’re pretty cool. Did you say your name was Tyler?” She didn’t wait for a response. “Why don’t you join our group?”

  
“But you’re all…girls,” he furrowed his brow. “I mean… Wouldn’t it be weird?”

  
“Nah, I can’t see it being weird. Whaddya say, you wanna join the group?”

  
“Uh… Sure, why not?”

  
*

  
Josh was sat drinking another Red Bull with his clique out near the bike sheds – where not many teachers or students hung about.

  
“Come on, man, you have got to tell us more about your summer. There really is something you’re not telling us. You really didn’t shack up with any chicks whilst you were out in California? That place is like a haven, and you didn’t manage to get any? You’re losing your magic touch or something.” Gerard – another member of the group, was really trying to get the beans to spill.

  
Josh on the other hand had memories of the last week of summer with Tyler. Specific memories like the night where they ended up walking along the beach front with drinks in their hands, and the morning after that where they sat near one of the alcoves and talked feelings – nothing too soppy. Just the casual getting to know each other feelings. Back then Josh didn’t know about Tyler and his thoughts being insecure and he was still coming to terms that the Tyler at his school was the same, yet a different Tyler from California. He didn't realise how... Perfectly broken he was.

  
“Dun, you still with us? You zoned out for a bit there.”

  
“Huh, yeah… Yeah.” He said, pulling his phone from his pocket and spinning it in his hands, unlocking it after contemplating sending a message.

  
Text: Tyler.  
I was serious about taking you to Taco Bell. How about tonight after school?

  
Tyler jumped as his phone went off, he wasn’t expecting anybody to be messaging him in school hours. But his heart pounded a little as he read the text from Josh, and sending another back.

  
Text: Josh.  
After school? What about my clothes? I mean… I don’t want to go out…in these clothes.

  
Josh smiled a bit at his phone. He honestly didn’t care if Tyler left the house in a dress. In his shorts he looked super cute, he really wasn’t afraid to admit that to himself. Openly admitting it, he was very apprehensive of doing... And if anyone was to judge him he’d make him feel better about himself. He tapped out another message to him.

  
Text: Tyler.  
I’ll pick you up from your place at say… 7? That’ll give you enough time to change into something more comfortable, right?

  
Tyler grinned, his phone still under the table a little as he tapped out another reply.

  
Text: Josh.  
My place? You don’t know where I live. Bit forward though, don’t you think? :)

  
Josh laughed, he was either playing hard to get, or just being coy to be cute. His laugh was still slightly evident as he sent another text, leaving his phone unlocked to wait for an answer.

  
Text: Tyler.  
Well you can always meet me…

  
Tyler’s next text message came in a bunch of four, all within seconds of each other. He wanted more time to spend with Josh and he didn’t want to try and find any fast food restaurant when he’d only been in the city for like, 3 weeks. The furthest he’d gone would be his school, and that's on the state mandated school bus that sticks to the route of ‘home, school, home’. He’s not the adventurous type.

  
Text: Josh.  
WAIT!   
You can pick me up.  
Seven o’clock…   
I live on Ashdowne. I’ll be waiting outside for you.

  
Text: Tyler.  
It’s a date. See you at 7, Ty… :)

  
There went that ‘d’ word again. It sent shivers down his spine. Was he about to go on a date with Josh Dun? Hell if he knew. He just knew one thing: he wouldn’t be telling his parents that the friend he met on holiday is taking him to Taco Bell the first time they saw each other after a few weeks apart.

  
Text: Mom.  
Don’t put dinner out for me tonight. My friends want to get to know me more, so we’re going for Chinese food. I’ll be leaving at 7, and I probably won’t be back till late.

  
As much as he hated lying to his parents, he didn’t want his parents to get suspicious that he was going out, alone, with a guy. He’d probably get kicked out of the house, for fear that his religion didn’t keep him from committing a sin. It wasn’t like his friendship with Josh was going to get serious, he hadn’t even kissed him yet. Just hugged on the beach…and he helped calm him down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What should Ty wear?, and also, should they kiss at the end of the date? [they being Josh mainly BC he is crushing like no end on him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler and Josh get reasy for their 'date', Josh had car troubles, and Tyler''s mom tries to reinforce ideologies on Tyler.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK so I didn't get to finish this until today. Meaning my chapter a day wish has kind of stopped. SO yeah. SORRY about that. There will be hopefully a second chapter tonight if my tablet doesn't screw me over all day.  
> Triggers: internal homophobic discussion I guess?  
> Ily all thanks for reading.

After lunch, Tyler had music class – his best lesson, and then for his final lesson, maths – His worst lesson. In what world would he ever have to know the square root of six thousand, seven hundred and 56? A crazy world. Since the morning, he had managed to keep his thoughts at bay, trying to focus on the work, and occasionally thinking about the date-probably-not-date he had with Josh that evening. His mom hadn’t text him back since he told her he wouldn’t be eating dinner, and it didn’t really shock him. His thoughts drifted to what he would wear, and what he’d be able to get away with. He’d be leaving the house when his parents were at home, so he wouldn’t be able to get away with the clothes he was wearing. He tried to visualise his closet, mentally prepping outfits in his head.

  
Again the bell ringing caused him to jump. He packed his notes away, having written minimal notes again, and rushed his way out of the school. The school bus that would take him home was waiting and he had roughly 10 minutes to catch it before the bus left. He kind of hoped that Josh would be on his bus too, but that would be only by extreme luck.

  
He got to his bus, and couldn’t see Josh around, and only presumed he’d end up skating home on his skateboard. He thought back to the morning when Josh had knocked him over. He smiled and then laughed a little bit, remembering how flustered he was that he’d fallen over, and remembering the way he had calmed him down in the toilet. He liked that he didn’t focus on him wearing what he was, and it made him feel at ease. Like he could actually wear what he wanted around Josh and he wouldn’t say much that would make him unhappy.

  
He shut his eyes on the bus ride home, but didn’t fall asleep. He couldn’t risk falling asleep, not that he’d of been able to, the bus driver yells out whenever they are approaching a student drop off. If they went the same route as the morning, he’d be home in about 15 students time. Some of them lived on the same road, others lived a little further apart, so he couldn't have any idea of what time the bus would end up dropping him home.

  
“Joseph, Ashdowne!” The bus drivers announcement of them arriving outside his house almost jerked him awake, and he shrugged his bag on, stepping off the bus and running into his house, locking the door. He had only 3 hours until Josh was coming to pick him up. Which meant he had only 2 hours and 55 minutes to pick an outfit.

  
He rushed up the stairs and shut his door, turning his music on full volume and singing along to it as he pilfered through the closet. He looked for a shirt first, one that looked nice, but one that didn’t look too…girly. He was going out when his parents were home, and his parents had a very different view on how he should go out in public. He eventually fell in love with the Mickey Mouse shirt that he had brought a couple years back on holiday from a Disney store. He took off his vest and pulled it on, the shirt being long enough that it covered his shorts, giving the illusion that's all he was wearing. If anybody was to walk in on him now they’d have very mixed opinions. However, if Josh had walked in, he wouldn’t have seen himself minding much.

  
He then had to find pants to go with them, and all he owned were tight black skinnies, so it didn’t take him long to choose an appropriate pair of jeans. He pulled them on, and looked at himself in the mirror, moderately happy with his look. He felt comfortable with his outfit and ran his hands through his hair, deciding that he needed to at least do something with it. Wax it, gel it, just something to make it look cool.

  
_I really don’t see why you’re trying so hard to look good for him. He might not even be gay. He might already have a girlfriend._

  
“Shut up, shut up, shut up,” he hissed. “You’re not ruining my day. Go back into your little cage, Blurryface,” he muttered, picking up his pot of hair gel, coating his comb in the substance and taming his hair flat to his head, and then spiking it up, and then changing his mind and parting it, and then he tried to fluff it up a bit. He couldn’t decide what style he wanted to go with. His hair wasn’t long enough to do anything special to it. So he went with his original idea and just tamed it flat, getting the excess gel from his hair. He usually hated putting any styling product in his hair, especially because it was so short. He thought about Josh’s hair back on the beach. Hair that was long enough to be blown side to side in the wind, hair that could be styled or straightened or even just played with. Tyler’s hair couldn’t even have a hand ran through it.

  
He went downstairs after that, his parents still weren’t in, and he sat and watched the television. Well, until he saw his dad’s car pull up onto the driveway. He immediately turned the television off, sitting on the sofa quietly.

  
“Tyler!” He had walked directly into the kitchen, and Tyler followed, sitting at the breakfast island.

  
“Yes, dad?”

  
“How was your first day at school? Did you make any friends?”

  
“Yeah, actually, I’m off for dinner with one of them tonight. He’s the same kid I met in California. I told you about him, didn’t I, his name was Josh?”

  
“I thin you did, yes… But it was a long time ago, bigger things have happened since then so it’s a little bit patchy. So was it just Josh you met?”

  
“Oh, no. No, I made other friends too. They’re called Ashley and Hayley,” he smiled.

  
“And they’re not joining you and Josh for dinner?”

  
“No. Josh didn’t…ask them,” he shrugged, and saw the partially disapproving look.

  
“So where are you going for dinner?”

  
“T-Taco Bell…”

  
His dad nodded. “Your mom will be home from picking your siblings up soon. Does she know you’re not eating with us? I thought you’d at least let the entire family know about your first day.”

  
“I already told her whilst I was in school. She never said anything back. But I can tell her…before I leave if I have time."

  
His dad hummed a bit, making a coffee and walking into the living room, switching the television on and watching the evening news, waiting for Tyler’s mom to come home. Tyler went back upstairs and shut his bedroom door, remembering to put his phone on charge. He lay on his bed, rocking his head from side to side, quietly humming one of the songs that was playing when he was getting dressed. He thought back to Josh, wondering what kind of music he liked. He’d probably get to find that out one day, he hoped it would be tonight.

  
He rolled over and picked up his phone, opening the message chain with Josh.

  
_Text: Josh._   
_How are you picking me up tonight? Not your skateboard I hope? :)_

  
*

  
Josh was at home in his garage, working on his car that had broken down that morning. It didn't look like too much of a hard job to fix, and if worse came to worse, he'd just end up using his parents car. His engine fluid was low for a start, so he topped that up, and then did a few more adjustments, stopping when the text from Tyler came through. He laughed a little.

  
_Text: Tyler._   
_I’d like to say my super cool car, but I'm having some car problems. But it will be a car, mark my words. Even if it ends up being my dads super uncool beemer._   
_Are you all ready?_

  
Josh checked the time on his phone, sitting back in the front seat and trying to turn the engine over, muttering “come on…come on…,” as if encouraging the inanimate object would help. If this didn't work he'd end up taking the other car. Which, as long as he had a car, he didn't mind. He just really wanted to take his car, because his dad would need his own car for the morning, meaning Josh would need to have a midnight curfew in when he had to return the car. Another text came through from Tyler.

  
_Text: Josh._   
_Oh bummer, at least you've got your licence. I haven't even got my new learners permit yet. I haven't had time since the transfer to change. I'm ready, yeah. Been ready for too much time, I get things done too quickly and then I'm left waiting around._

  
His engine didn't turn over and he groaned, hitting the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. He gave up and shut his car hood down, walking into the house. “Dad! I need to use your car tonight, I'm gonna have to get mine fixed again.”

  
_Text: Tyler._   
_Well I hope you're ready for super uncool beemer. Mine needs to go into the shop. I'm going to get ready, so I'll see you at 7, Ty._

Josh needed to shower and get the car grease off his skin, so went straight into the bathroom to do that. He showered quickly, opting against drying himself properly simply wrapping a towel around his waist and draping one around his shoulders to catch the rivulets of water from the ends of his hair. He styled his hair whilst it was still damp, even though he’d end up putting a hat on, and walked back into his bedroom. His outfit choice was a lot quicker than Tyler’s, as if he had already planned an outfit in his head. He pulled out black skinny jeans and a shirt, white torso and black sleeves with a graphic on the front. He pulled them on after he was semi-dry and picked up a few cans of Red Bull from his mini-fridge (he had a stash of about 12 cans – his parents hated how much he relied on the drink, but it was his favourite and he was an adult so they technically couldn’t tell him what to do), and went downstairs, drinking one as he grabbed his dad’s keys from the hook.

  
“All right I’m leaving! Don’t wait up, I’ll be back in a couple hours,” he called, grabbing his house keys and shutting the door, getting into his dad’s car.

  
_Text: Tyler._   
_I’m on the way. You said you lived on Ashdowne, right? I’ll be there in 30 minutes._

  
He slipped his phone back into his pocket and started the car, driving off to Tyler’s road.

  
Tyler checked his phone went it went off, rolling onto his stomach and kicking his legs behind him as he read the message, his smile spreading across his face.

  
_Text: Josh_   
_Yep. Can’t wait. See you soon. :)_

  
Tyler walked to his rack of shoes, picking out a standard black pair of converse, slipping them on and tying the laces. He opened his closet again, in two minds to take his kimono with him, just in case it got cold later on. He took it anyway, slipping it on. After grabbing his phone off the side, he left his room and shut the door, going downstairs.  
His mom was home by now, and he went into the kitchen to have a drink of water before Josh arrived to pick him up.

  
“Your father tells me you’re going out for dinner tonight.”

  
He paused in taking a drink, lowering the glass. “Yeah. A friend from California goes to the same school, and he wanted to take me out tonight. He’s just a friend, though.”

  
“You're going with him alone? This isn’t how we raised you, Tyler…”

  
“Mom – he’s just a friend! We met on holiday and when we transferred here, he saw me and wanted to get to know me more, we’ve only talked like once! Just stop worrying. Nothing is going to happen. He’s a friend.”

  
“I just hope you remember your values. You know the rules in this house,” she said, starting work on the families dinner.  
Tyler’s phone buzzed with a message.

  
_Text: Tyler._   
_Traffic was kind. I’m almost outside on your street. You ready to go?_

  
_Text: Josh._   
_Yeah, I’m ready. My mom’s on my case, so you need to like, come save me, or something._

  
Another text shot through in seconds.

  
_Text: Tyler_   
_Just think of me as your knight in a shining beemer. I’m on Ashdowne. Come out._

  
“Alright, I’m leaving,” he said, putting his glass down and locking his phone. “I’ll be back later.”

  
He rushed out of the kitchen, grabbing his keys from the table in the hall and running out of the house as Josh pulled up.

  
“You ready?”

  
“Of course! Let’s go,” he smiled, opening the door and getting in the car.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Date night!!!!!!!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY THAT THIS TOOK LIKE A MILLENIUM TO UPLOAD. CHRISTMAS HAS BEEN DAWNING AND I HAD TO DO A LOT OF STUFF. Anyway enjoy this i think it's super cute.  
> Thanks for all the kudos and comments and bookmarks and subscriptions! I'll try to get the next chapter out before idk Saturday??? The chapters will prob get shorter depending on what I can get out onto word but yeah enjoy!!

Tyler closed the car door, immediately putting his seat belt on.

“How was your first day at South High then? You know apart from meeting me,” Josh grinned, adjusting his hat and pulling away from the curb, driving away from his house.

“It was good, it was great,” Tyler smiled, relaxing in the seat, absent mindedly playing with the hem of his kimono. His thoughts of what they were doing together kind of got the better of him. “Josh?”

“Yeah?”

“Is this...a date? I mean you’ve been...saying that it’s a date, but is it?”

“It can be whatever you want it to be, Ty.” He said it casually, not looking away from the road, but he smiled a little. “We can be just buds hanging out, or we can be two people on a date. I won’t mind what you call tonight.”

“Well what would you call it? When you speak to your friends tomorrow? Would you say you went on a date?”

“Huh... I guess... because they’re my friends at school, I’d say I hung out with the new kid and showed them all of Columbus’ great features because they didn’t know where to go.”

“And how about your family or friends not from school?”

“Tyler... are you afraid of people finding out you went out with me?”

“N-No... no. I just... I just want to know what we are to each other. If California meant anything and set anything in stone with us,” he murmured, his thumb scratching his palm a little. “You know... If we are a couple or if we’re just friends. I just want to know...”

“Okay, well if you really want to know, I’ll tell you if you’d like. But could we do it over tacos? I think it’d be easier if we did it face to face, and somewhere I can’t be distracted trying to get my thoughts out.”

“Oh-Okay,” he said softly, relaxing into his seat and running a hand in his hair. 

☆

They arrived outside the Taco Bell, it was about 10 miles away from Tyler’s house, useful because he could easily get a bus or a taxi to get some if he really wanted to go back. Or he could ask Josh and they could have another ‘date-not-date’ again.  
“So, let’s talk,” Josh said, parking the car in the parking lot and getting out of the car. He stuffed his hands into his front pockets on his jeans, walking across the asphalt. Tyler followed him and stuffed his hands into his kimono pockets.

“Yeah, let’s talk,” he repeated, balling his hands into his fists. “I’ll...I’ll let you go first,” he murmured. 

Josh held the door open and let Tyler go in first. “Well, I have been thinking... about you. A lot, actually. Since California and our week.” He walked up to the counter. “What do you want to drink?”

“Wait...you’ve been thinking about me? You can’t just...just say something like that. And...brush over it, you know. You’ve got to explain that. What did you think about me? Why me?”

“You really want to know? Honestly, I guess I just thought about what you were doing and where you were. I didn’t really get to know much. I got to know you more in the boys room than actually talking.” He ordered 2 cokes, and went to find a small booth where they could sit and talk, and hopefully not get disturbed by anybody. He’d drove to find the nearest Taco Bell that was rarely inhabited by South High students, which was also a shopping complex, so there was always the possibility.  
“well that’s real nice... that you spared a thought for me. What else do you want to know about me?”

“I guess, whatever you’re comfortable with. I don’t want to push you into revealing anything you don't want to tell me."

Tyler sat down and put his hands on the table. “Ask a question, and I guess I’ll try to answer it.”

“Alright… Well, we’ll start easy. Family. Got any brothers and sisters?”

“One sister, two brothers. Brothers don’t live at home, they’re at college somewhere out of state, and my sister is a couple years behind me in school. How about you?”

“Two sisters, one brother. My brother is at college, my sister’s want to go to some beauty school.” He took a sip of his drink and passed the menu to Tyler. “Alright. Next question… Hobbies?”

“Well when I was living in California I liked to sing and write music and play instruments. Nothing too special, I play ukulele, piano. I also liked to draw a little, but I wasn’t too good at that, so I put the ideas for my pictures into my songs.”

“Oh, that’s awesome. You’ll have to play me something. If you want, that is.”

“What about you, what are your hobbies? Aside from watching the X-Files and skateboarding?”

“I like music too, I’ve been taking lessons in drumming on and off for the past few years, not got much progress on it though, which sucks because I really wanted to get better at it. I’m a fan of racing too, like my car. It’s the latest model, all the drivers at school are super jealous that I managed to save up for it. Even though I only payed half of it, my parents gave me the other half when I had my birthday.”

Tyler was looking over the menu and flicking his gaze up every so often to look at Josh, nodding a little and smiling as he gushed over his hobbies. “If you’re nervous about playing anything in front of me we can try and play together one day. I haven’t really got the co-ordination to play the drums. I have to stick with a simple instrument.”

“Yeah, maybe we can start playing together or something and make a band,” he grinned. “Have you chosen what you want?”

“Absolutely, I for one think that would be an excellent idea,” he laughed a little, finally able to relax. “Oh, yeah. I’m thinking, soft taco, beef, lettuce, with spicy ranch, beans, tomatoes and jalapeño peppers. What do you usually get?”

“I get the burritos, they serve some sick burritos here. The best burrito, is the burrito supreme. Comes with everything I love. Do you want me to order any sides? I don’t think tacos and burritos are going to be that filling.”

“Are you sure…? I don’t want the bill to be too expensive for you. I’ll split it with you.”

“Nu-uh. You aren’t paying. I’ll just get some chips and cheese, and some chips and guacamole. Everyone loves guac, right?”

“You’re being oddly generous. You don’t have to be. I can help pay for it. You’re making this seem like a…” Tyler cut himself off.

“I just want to be a nice guy, is that a crime?” Josh joked and went up to order the food. He came back after about five minutes. “Alright, next question…”

It was about 9pm by the time the Taco Bell staff were asking the customers to leave, something about them having a party the next day that meant they had to close up early. By this time, Josh and Tyler had cleaned off the guac bowl and were finishing off their third glasses of coke. They also got to know each other a lot, laughing and joking together as they talked about what they liked. They kept away from touchy subjects such as Tyler’s anxiety and the bathroom incident, and didn’t talk too much about their families.

“Do you want to go home yet?”

“Nah… Not really. I’m having a lot of fun with you, J,” Tyler hiccuped as he went to say his name, so it came out as “Jishwa,” and then laughed. “That’s it. That’s your nickname now. Jish. Or Jishwa if I'm feeling a little assertive around you.” He couldn’t stop laughing, trying to calm himself down with high pitched noises as he wiped the tears from his eyes.  
“Alright then, Ty. So where do you want to go?”

“Maybe somewhere with a view so I can sit and watch the stars? I loved doing it on the beach in California. The salty sea air and the gentle breeze and the sand between my feet. It was real peaceful. Helped give me inspiration for songs.”  
“Well there’s no oceans and beaches in Ohio… Why don’t we go to Goodale Park? There's a nice little pond there, maybe we can skip stones.”

“That sounds real nice. Let’s go, Jish,” he grinned, taking hold of Josh’s hand and pulling him out of the doors and across the parking lot.

Josh opened the car, and Tyler jumped in, buckling himself up and waiting for Josh to get in the car. He turned the engine over and the radio started to play a song.

“Oh I love this song!!!” Tyler began to sing along to some old MAROON 5 song, belting it out at the top of his lungs as Josh pulled out of the parking lot. He was really enjoying himself, and the company with Josh. “Sing along with me Jish,” he smiled.

“I’m not much of a singer Ty…Sorry. I don’t really sing,” he murmured a little. He perked up a little, trying to keep the good mood in the air, not wanting to ruin the night just yet. “It’s why I play the drums. Don’t need to sing when you’re too busy playing. You keep singing though, I like hearing you sing. You’ve got a good voice.” His compliment caused Tyler to blush, and hide his face behind his hands. Instead of singing, Josh drummed the beat on his steering wheel when they were in traffic or at a red light.

He and Tyler sung and drummed along to all of the songs in the journey to the park, where Josh had to park on the sidewalk and climb over the gate because the car park was closed. He took Tyler’s hand by instinct and not wanting to lose him, because there was a long way to walk to get to the pond. They stopped to pick up some nice smooth rocks to skip across the water, occasionally to take pictures and then stopped properly when they got to the pond. Tyler sat down on a tree stump, and called Josh over. 

“It’s so peaceful,” he hummed, closing his eyes and relaxing. “I can see this being my new safe place when times get hard. Somewhere I can just sit and forget everything for a couple of hours. I can write music here too.”

“Well maybe I’ll join you. We can perform in that bandstand over there,” he pointed and Tyler’s face lit up.

“I can bring my little keyboard. Maybe I’ll play a song for you one day?”

Josh smiled a little and grinned. “I’d like that.” He stood up and picked a stone from his pocket, skipping it across the water and counting the jumps. “1…2…3…4,” he fist pumped the air.

“I can totally do better than that. Pass me a stone,” Tyler grinned, taking the stone from his hand and skimming it, only managing two skips. “I’m a little rusty… Let me have another go.” It seemed like he couldn’t do better than that.

“You’re so cute when you struggle to beat me,” Josh murmured, but not quietly enough. 

“Wait… What did you say?”

 _Shit._ “I…uh…I said you're cute,” he stammered out. “Because… Well you are. Even with your flaws, you…yourself outshine them. You’re amazing, Tyler, you really are. No matter what you say I’ll always disagree if you say anything that puts yourself down because I know that you’re not what you say you are.”

“Josh what are you saying? Are you getting at something here?”

“I guess… Think I am trying to say…that you made my last week of summer real fun and I enjoyed myself. And I kind of want to have every day be like that week. I wanna spend it with you. Because you make me happier.”

Tyler looked at Josh and studied his face for any sign that he’d crack up laughing and say ‘kidding!’ but saw nothing. “Are you asking me out?”

“Yeah…yeah I am. Ty…Tyler…do you want to be my boyfriend? Is this too sudden? God I don’t know what I’m doing…”

“Yes. Yes, Josh. I’ll go out with you,” Tyler smiled, a toothy grin on his face – the one Josh remembered from the picture they took California. He hugged Josh tight and laughed. “You know you didn’t have to be so nervous. I would’ve said yes with whichever way you asked me.”

Josh laughed, hugging Tyler back for a moment and then pulling away, taking a breath and kissing his forehead. From his forehead, he kissed his cheek, then his nose, and then his other cheek. Then finally, he kissed him on his lips. It was soft, tender, like every first kiss was, but most importantly…it was perfect.

"This was a lot more than showing the new kid around," Tyler joked a little after they broke apart, his hand ruffling Josh's hair. "But I still don't mind what you call it when you're with your friends," he murmured. 

"Come on, let's get you back home. It's getting late."

"Okay, Jishwa," he smiled, yawning a little and walking back to the car. 

They drove and Tyler's hand was underneath Josh's on the gearstick. They pulled up onto Ashdowne. "Can you stop here? I can walk back into my house from here," Tyler said, leaning over the centre console to kiss Josh lightly again.

"See you at school, Jish," he smiled, getting out of the car and walking up to his house, letting himself in and going straight to his room, falling asleep happy.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> lets get it on B)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I tried to update the other day but because I had included emojis it didn't work. I deleted it before anybody could see the chapter.  
> Anyhow  
> Here you go.  
> Oh and BTW here be smut. Updating the tags.

The first thing Tyler did that morning was change the name he gave to Josh in his phone contacts to “Jish”, deciding to add the alien and love heart emojis. He smiled, laying on his back before deciding it would be a good time for him to get up out of bed and get ready for his second day at school. He was organising an outfit when his phone buzzed with a message.

  
Text: Tyler  
Gooooodmorning! :)  
Did you sleep well?

  
Text: Jish  
Morning you  
I slept great. Couldn’t stop thinking about you.  
What’s your first lesson today?

  
Text: Tyler  
You dork.  
Music theory. You?

  
Text: Jish  
What a co-inki-dink, I have music theory too.  
Have you got Jones?

  
Text: Tyler  
Dude no way.  
Yes I have Jones! Save me a seat ;)

  
Text: Jish  
Why don’t you walk in with me? That way I don’t have to save you a seat, and I know you won’t turn up late. ;)

  
Text: Tyler  
Jishwa Dun doesn’t turn up on time. If I start now they’d get suspicious and expect it. Mwuhaha.

  
Text: Jish  
Jishhhhhhhh

  
Text: Tyler  
Tyyyyyyy

  
Text: Jish  
Fiiiiine. I’ll save you a seat.

  
Text: Tyler  
Yaaayyyy. Thank you♡

  
Text: Jish  
Yeah yeah yeah. Don’t mention it. Only doing it ‘cos you’re my bf  
Now I’ve gotta get dressed. Bus arrives at 8 and it’s already 7.30  
Speak to you at school?

  
Text: Tyler  
Absolutely, see you in class

  
Josh contemplated adding an ‘x’ to his text, but left it out for now. It’d probably be too soon to start adding kisses. However he changed Tyler’s contact name from “Tyler” to “Tyler” adding the piano emoji and a heart, smiling a little as he moved to get his clothes from his closet. His dad was kind enough to get a carpool to work that morning, letting him take the car, which was perfect if he wanted to take Tyler out anywhere after school, or if he just wanted to go out. Josh got dressed, pulling a tight fitting shirt on and black skinnies. He dug out his black converse, pushing his feet into them and picking up his backpack, walking into the kitchen to eat some breakfast before he left. By breakfast, it was really just an apple and a can of Red Bull that he’d cracked open which he’d finish drinking when he got to school.

  
Chucking his apple core into the bin, the clock struck 7.45, which was the perfect time to leave to get there on time, to have a quick cigarette with the boys and finish his Red Bull. Maybe he would even have enough time to text Tyler before he knew he had to go to music theory. He grabbed his house keys and his (borrowed) car keys, leaving the house and taking a swig of Red Bull in the car and pulling out of his driveway.  
He got to school at 8am, Tyler wouldn’t be there yet. He saw Gerard, Mark and Pete in their usual spot by the benches where the guys hung out, all laughing and joking and hollering Josh over as he slung his backpack onto his shoulder.

  
“Dude we were trying to call you all night! Why didn’t you answer?” Pete was enthusiastically drinking a can of Red Bull and looked way too happy to be at school.

  
“I was busy, I was out.” Josh was blunt. “Besides I hang out with you all day at school, what, you got a crush on me or something Petey?” he laughed and took a seat on the table top. He saw the school bus pull up and students started to pile out and he smiled, pulling his phone out from his back pocket.

  
Text: Tyler  
You’re here!!!

  
Text: Jish  
Wow, you’re like a psychic or something.

  
Josh laughed at his phone and went to shoot another text to Tyler.

  
“Hey Dun, who are you texting?” Brendon looked over and saw him smiling.

  
“Oh it’s someone, you’ve never met them. They’re called… None of your business, that’s who!”

  
“It’s a chick isn’t it? Is it Debby?”

  
“Dude, what? No! We broke up like, 6 months ago. She can have anyone, but she’s not having me back.”

  
“Whatever, dude… Now come on, we’ve got 10 minutes till the bell goes.” Brendon stood up and grabbed his bag, walking to their ‘smoking spot’, not caring if the guys followed just yet. He lit a cigarette and took a slow drag, seeing Josh walk over. “Want a drag?”

  
“Dude, no way. I’d be practically kissing you. Just give me a fresh one,” Josh said, lighting up his own. When he was sure the guys were distracted by their cigarettes, he pulled his phone out sending one final text.

  
Text: Tyler  
I’ll see you in class. I’ll try not to be too late.

  
Text: Jish  
Can’t wait.

  
☆

  
Tyler had walked to his music theory classroom, almost like he wasn’t touching the floor. He was the first one there, and it gave him enough time to peek into the room through the window and see a spot that Josh would be happy with. The teacher, Jones, came by and he let Tyler in, saying something about how he wished the rest of his students were as eager as Tyler. Tyler wasted no time at all going to the seat, putting his bag in the chair next to him whilst he waited.

  
The class filed in slowly, and Tyler kept an eye out for Josh to walk through the door. The first bundle of students didn’t have Josh intermixed in them. Neither did the second or third. Tyler was half thinking he was ditching the class, so he took his bag from the chair he’d saved. Jones started the class, and Tyler started to write the notes that he was putting on the blackboard (he didn’t see why Jones didn’t have a projector with a PowerPoint presentation). Then the door swung open, loud against the wall as it hit it.

  
“Mr Dun... you’re 15 minutes late. What do you have to say for yourself?” Jones was making a note f his absence – possibly writing him up. Tyler hoped he wouldn’t get in too much trouble, providing he was polite.

  
“I dunno. Guess I’m disappointed that I wasn’t later?” he smirked and shut the door. That’s not really how Tyler wanted him to respond.

  
“You’re on a warning, Mr Dun. Thin, thin ice. Don’t make a wrong move or you’ll be in detention. Now take your seat. There’s a spare seat next to Mr Joseph.”

  
Josh smirked again and casually strode over to the seat, pulling it out and sitting down.

“Hey Ty,” he murmured. “Got a pen I can borrow?”

  
Tyler rummaged through his pencil case, pulling one out, and was surprised that josh had his notebook on him. When they weren’t writing notes, his hand would slip to stroke his leg, his upper arm would brush against Tyler’s. Tyler only now just noticed the design of the tattoo on his arm. He only had minimalist lines that to some people meant nothing but to him meant everything. But it didn’t stop Tyler’s had from slipping under the table and squeezing Josh’s hand. He had to fight to keep the smile that was threatening to creep onto his face. It seemed Josh liked teasing.

  
Josh and Tyler didn’t share anymore lessons after Music Theory, and Tyler wasn’t up to sitting with the girls at lunch, so he went back to the music rooms, seeing the piano in the corner of the practice room and idly playing a tune he’d heard on the radio. He didn’t know the name of the song, just liked that it was peaceful. He was a little engrossed in playing, missing a few texts from Josh. He stopped playing to answer his text's. 

  
Text: Tyler  
Where are you?  
Tyyy  
Ty where are you?

  
Text: Jish  
I’m in the music department. Didn’t feel like sitting in the cafeteria today.

  
Text: Tyler  
I’m coming down. Can’t have you all alone.

  
Text: Jish  
Okay.

  
Tyler locked his phone and started to mess with a few chords, smiling a little. He played a few more after that, making a sub-par melody. He quickly scratched them down onto a piece of paper. He hadn’t noticed that Josh had walked in until he heard him clapping.

  
“you’re pretty good.” Josh was smiling and dropping his bag onto the table. “Kind of makes me wish there was a practice room with a drum kit here.”

  
“I saw one. But it was locked,” he said, tinkling his fingers on the pianos ivory keys & writing them onto his piece of paper.

  
“Well I’ll just have to get the key. Maybe we can have a rock out session.”

  
“Mm... that sounds nice,” he hummed. “I’d like that,” he nodded. He carried on tinkling on the keys, repeating the melody and enjoying playing. He’d have to find his piano at his house and start playing more.  
He was engrossed in playing, not noticing Josh recording him and not noticing when he stood behind him, only noticing when he placed his hands on his shoulders. His fingers faltered and hit the wrong key. “Meanie.”

  
Josh laughed and sat down next to him, wrapping his arm around his waist and pulling him a little closer.

  
“Jish...? Are you gonna tell ... you know, your friends?”

  
“About what? That I’m dating again? I don’t see...” he trailed off. “I don’t see why they need to know.”

  
“Are you afraid of people finding out about us? Or it damaging your school reputation? You’re a pretty big deal...or so I’ve heard.”

  
Josh laughed again and bit his lip, nudging Tyler in the side. “I wouldn’t say I’m afraid... Just that I’m not ready yet. But if you wanna tell people that you’re in a relationship I won’t stop you. Just...as long as you keep it secret.” He said softly, pressing an almost Eskimo kiss to his nose, and then to his neck.

  
Tyler almost melted into his neck, rolling his face to the side. “J-Josh...” he murmured. "Don’t...not here...not now...”

  
“Fine... see if you can get out tonight. We’ll go back to Goodale...” He was still kissing his neck a little, squeezing his arm and moving him around so his back was flush against his chest.

  
“C-Can’t... Busy tonight...” he gasped out, pressing his hand into the top of Josh’s thigh.

  
“Meet me in the bathroom... third floor of the west building,” he murmured. “In changeover period,” he kissed his neck again, wanting to badly sink his teeth in, but he didn’t have a collar on his shirt and he knew he couldn’t risk it.

  
“A...Ah... Yes...” he managed to stammer out, breathing deeply as Josh let him go. He was recollecting his breath still as the bell rang. He fixed himself up and sorted his hair out.

  
Josh slung his bag onto his back, strolling out of the door, casually tossing, “Don’t be late,” over his shoulder without a glance back to Tyler – because he knew if he looked back neither of them would be leaving that room in time for lesson.

  
Tyler sat through his lesson staring at the clock for most of it, needing the bell to ring. His leg bounced up and down and he had the jitters. His fingers drummed on the table quietly and he had trouble focusing. He was still caught up on Josh’s lips on his neck, his fingers ghosting to feel where they were.

  
The bell lurched him from his seat and he wasn’t shocked by it for once, stuffing his things into his bag and running from the classroom. He had a 20 minute changeover period and wanted as many of those minutes possible alone with Josh. He ran to the west building and up the three flights of stairs, walking into the bathroom as his breath turned into pants. He was gripping the edge of the off-white porcelain sink, his eyes were closed, he was hunched over and breathing heavy and not realising somebody had walked in a until a strong set of arms wrapped around his waist.

  
“Hey, Baby boy,” the voice purred into his ear and Tyler was instant putty. “Miss me?”

  
Tyler looked up into the mirror in front of him, smiling a little. “Sure did,” he whispered, holding the front of Josh’s hands that were around his waist still. He bit his bottom lip between his teeth, holding back a moan as he felt Josh’s lips over his neck again, making a path of sloppy kisses over his skin.

  
“Turn around,” Josh murmured, and when Tyler did, he pressed his hands against his waist and pressing a not-so-tender kiss to Tyler’s lips, licking a stripe over his bottom lip, encouraging his mouth to open and let his tongue slide in.

  
Tyler moaned helplessly into his mouth, panting and pushing his hands into his hair. “God... J-Jo...sh,” he murmured, his words broken and the ability to speak leaving his mind. The entire thought that anybody could walk in at any moment was making this an event. Tyler whined as he felt Josh move away from him. Tyler’s eyes were hooded, half lidded and dazed as he looked at him.

  
“Did you like that, baby boy?” he cooed, brushing the pad of his thumb across his, now swollen, bottom lip. He chuckled softly when Tyler was as wrecked as he was when he couldn’t speak, and his head nodded like a bobble head. Josh leaned in again, kissing him again slowly, sucking his lip between his teeth. Tyler moaned quietly, and Josh stepped forwards, shimmying one of his legs between Tyler’s. “What do you want, Ty,” he whispered, stroking his cheek, inadvertently letting his leg roll against his black skinny jeans. Josh knew what he wanted when he ripped a moan from Tyler, who was throwing his head back. “Tell me, baby...”

  
“Y-You...God Josh... I want...I want...I want you,” he stammered out, biting on his lip hard enough that he tore the skin.

  
“Baby boy... I want you too... but we haven’t got enough time for that...” Josh laughed softly as he heard Tyler whine softly. “Hold onto the edge of the sink,” he murmured. “I know exactly what you’ll like,” he whispered, moving his hands to Tyler’s jeans, unbuttoning them and squatting down. He pushed his shirt above his stomach, holding his hips to the sink, kissing his stomach and biting his hip bone and sucking a prominent bruise on his skin. Tyler struggled to keep his moan quiet, letting it fall past his lips loudly. “Quiet baby,” he grinned, continuing to pull at his jeans.

  
Tyler bucked out, giving Josh the perfect opportunity to slip his jeans down his legs, just far enough that he could get at his underwear. Josh licked at his lip. “Relax, baby... You’re going to love this.”

  
Josh let his hand slip past the waistband of his underwear, brushing the pads of his fingers against his skin. Tyler whined again and bucked his hips. “G-God... Josh...” he groaned. “M-more...” he was panting again, and he wanted, needed, Josh to go faster and he needed more.

  
Josh wrapped his hand around Tyler, moving his hand slowly, keeping his eyes up, watching as he fell apart in his hands. When he was used to his hand, Josh looked down, taking his hand away and closing his lips around the head. Tyler let out a squeal, moving one of his hands from the edge of the sink, burying a hand into Josh’s bright hair. He was letting the moans roll from his mouth, not caring who could hear. When Josh relaxed his throat and all but swallowed him into his mouth, he bucked his hips, whining when Josh pinned his hips harder against the sink, certain they’d leave an array bruises from his fingers. He was getting closer to the edge with each time that he heard Josh slurp and groan and moan around him.

  
“F-F...F.... God...Josh...o-oh... close,” he hissed, closing his eyes tight. He moaned again, feeling his body go slack as Josh encouraged him to come inside his mouth. He pulled hard at his hair, panting and struggling to find breath as Josh pulled away, wiping his lips free of any spit and other fluids.

  
Josh helped him to get dressed again, and Tyler was about to help josh out with his own problem, but he shook his head. “Not enough time, babe,” he purred, and as if on cue the school bell rang, and Josh snuck in one last deep kiss, letting Tyler taste himself on his tongue. “I’ll see you after school, yeah?” he winked. Tyler could do nothing but nod, smiling a little as he turned back to the sink, washing his flushed cheeks with cold water.  
He just about made it back to lesson on his still putty legs.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SO THEY DO THE THING.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS -ITS NOT EVEN CHRISTMAS ANYMORE BC JOSH CHANGED HIS TWITTER NAME BACK TO JOSH DUN. SPOOKY JIM IS DEAD.  
> any way have 4k of sin.  
> It's partial filler, partial plot, partial sin. enjoy loves!!!

Tyler has been attending school at South High now for 5 weeks. Tyler has also been dating, without his friends and family knowing, Josh for 5 weeks. They sneak kisses in the bathroom and around the back of the school, and also in the park near the pond where they shared their first kiss. Tyler still hangs around with Ashley, Hayley and the girls, he’s learnt another name now – Melanie. She has definite school un-regulated hair, the colour split perfectly in the middle of her head.

Tyler thought what his hair would look if he dyed it red, or maybe blue, like Josh had when they first met on holiday, but decided he would leave Josh to have the amazing hair colours. Half of his lunch breaks involved him drawing music staves and putting music notes on them, imagining the songs in his head. He hadn’t heard from Blurryface since he started dating. He was happy and serene and at peace with himself, and it was thanks to Josh for keeping him grounded.

One day at lunch, Melanie was particularly excited, running over on platform heels and what could only be described as PVC latex dress, swishing as she came over. She nestled into the table, squealing. “Have you guys heard? The school is throwing, for the first time ever, a Halloween Scare fest Lockdown!” she was too excited, starting to eat her salad.

“What’s a Lockdown?”

“It’s where the teachers go home and they keep the students in the school overnight. They do it for finals week, buy there’s a teacher supervising us. This Halloween, the day before we have Halloween break, the school is being transformed into this amazing haunted house and there’s going to be music and dancing and a costume party and even a contest!”

“Mel is a big Halloween fan. She loves Halloween.” Ashley looked up from her phone and Melanie jabbed her in the side.

“I’ve noticed,” Tyler laughed a little.

“Will you be coming Tyler?”

“Uh... yeah, I guess. I don’t really...do...Halloween. Haunted houses and stuff...they kind of freak me out,” he said, shrugging a bit.

The girls all try to encourage Tyler to go and he lets them, knowing that he’d end up going anyway, if not with the girls, with Josh. “You girls are great, you know that?” Tyler smiled a little and all of the girls made a noise around him.

“You’re very welcome, Tyler. We would love for you to be a part of your first holiday here in Ohio. I’m pretty good at Halloween makeup, so if you need a costume, I’ll do your makeup.”

“I’ll have to think about what I’ll wear,” he said, looking back at his notebook that he’d idly started to sketch in. He had started to write some words down, but he couldn’t seem to picture them being sung. It felt like something was missing from his idea. He pulled his phone out when the girls stopped paying enough attention to him, opening the message chain with Josh.

Text: Josh

Hey.

Hey.

Hey.

Hey.

Text: Tyler

What is it, T?

Text: Josh

Meet me in the music department in like 5 minutes.

Text: Tyler

You eager for me again already, baby?

Text: Josh

Hush. It’s not that. I need to speak to you. But...I wouldn’t say no to a kiss from you. :P

Text: Tyler

Alright, alright. I’ll see you in 5.

Tyler slipped his phone back into his pocket and put his stuff back in his backpack, walking to the trash and putting his tray down, clearing it off and managing to slip out of the canteen unseen. He made his way to the other ‘safe space’ in the school – the first was the 3rd Floor West building boys bathroom and waited for Josh to come down the corridor.

“Hey. What did you want to talk to me about?” Josh looked around him before walking over to Tyler and placing his hands on his hips, his thumbs idly rubbing the slight-jutted bones through his shirt. It was his favourite spot, because his jeans always rested low enough on his hips and his shirts were always thin.

“I’m working on something… but I’m having trouble. It’s missing something. Help me out, Jish,” he smiled a little and looked up at Josh with big, pleading eyes. “I know where they have the key for the drum kit,” he added, hoping that would persuade Josh. He knew he had him when Josh grinned, squeezing his hips.

“Lead the way, baby boy,” Josh said, and Tyler took hold of his hand, running him to the music room, finding the key to room number 7.

“They sound proofed the room, because it’s got the drum kit in it,” Tyler said, meanwhile Josh was having completely different thoughts than the drum kit being silenced out.

“Oh is that so? Tell me, babe… How will you show your gratitude because I came down here to help you out, hm? What will you do for me,” he joked a little as Tyler unlocked the door to room 7.

“Well…name me a price,” Tyler grinned, his teeth showing in his smile as he blushed a bit, shutting the door and taking his notebook out.

Josh thought for a few moments, putting his hands into his backpack and pulling out his drumsticks, taking a seat on the stool behind the drum kit, doing some warm ups. “Well, you said that you’d give me a kiss. I’ll need a deposit for that,” he winked, his foot idly pressing the lever that played the kick drum – the noise mimicked what Tyler’s heart sounded like. He stopped and laughed as Tyler faced him with his face flushed completely red, standing up and leaning over the kit. Tyler bit down on his lip as he edged himself a little closer, pressing his lips lightly against Josh’s, not expecting him to suck his bottom lip into his mouth and pull him closer, holding his face as they kissed.

Tyler bit back a moan as he pulled away, panting slightly and cupping Josh’s face, smiling softly. “I’ve been working on a melody…but it’s not finished…it doesn’t sound good… yet,” he said. “I need to get the keyboard…from…from… uh…next d-door,” he stammered out. “I’ll play it for you…and you can help me.” He brushed his hands through his hair, stepping away and walking out of the room to get the keyboard off its stand, bringing the power cable.

He walked back into the room, closing the door as he set the keyboard up on the table, bending over the back of the table to hook it all up. He was unknowingly giving Josh the best view of his ass as he bent over, turning around and looking at him. “You ready? You can just... uh, join in, if you think you can,” he said, placing his fingers on the keys and looking at his notebook, counting himself in and starting to play the notes. After about 2 minutes of playing, Josh started to play one of the snare drums in front of him, not wanting to overpower the keyboard. Tyler didn’t sing the lyrics he had written down, biting his lip to stop that from happening. He closed his eyes, almost melting into the music that he had written.

He looked up and over to Josh as he finished playing, as if silently asking for an opinion, smiling a little. “What do you think,” he said quietly.

“It was amazing, Ty. It really was. Wow…just…I have no words. You were amazing,” Josh smiled. “What about me? I didn’t know what you wanted me to do.”

“You did great, Josh, don’t worry,” he said softly. “Now… about the rest of that payment,” he said, surprised with how brash he was being, he stepped around the drum kit and sat on Josh’s lap, leaning in to kiss him slowly.

*  
Two weeks later, Tyler and Josh were planning their next date in the park, and Tyler, for their almost 2 month anniversary – which wasn’t a big milestone but was to someone like him – was planning a surprise gift for Josh. He’d been practicing songs on his ukulele that he wanted to sing to him in the park, on the bandstand that they’d talked about the first time they were there. Josh on the other hand was preparing a picnic basket so that they could just sit on the blanket and enjoy each other’s company for a few hours, alone and away from the hustle and bustle of the school.

Text: Tyler

Hey, Angel Face. You ready to go? X

Josh had been holding out adding kisses and the ‘xo’s’ to their texts, but he figured after they’d been dating for almost 2 months, it seemed like now was a good time to start. His phone came back with a message.

Text: Josh

Almost, just got to finish getting dressed. Why, are you all ready? x

Also, Angel Face, love the new nickname. X

Text: Tyler

I’ll come pick you up if you want. I think you’ll be ready by the time I get to yours. x

Text: Josh

No, it’s okay. I can walk; it’s a nice night tonight. Don’t really want to miss out on it. Plus I have a surprise for you and I don’t want you to see it yet. See you in a bit x

Josh gathered that he wasn’t going to win him over to pick him up, so he double checked he had everything in the picnic basket. Flowers, food, drinks, plates, and a fluffy blanket seemed to be on the list of ‘what to take on a picnic date’, so Josh picked up all of the choices. Hoping to try his luck, he raced back upstairs, biting his lip as he walked into his room, thankful his family weren’t in the house at the time. He opened his bedside chest of drawers, rummaging through the top drawer until he found a small bottle and packet of condoms. He wouldn’t want to force Tyler into doing anything, but decided to slip them into the basket just in case anything was to happen.

His phone buzzed with another message from Tyler.

Text: Josh

I’m leaving mine now. I’ll see you in the spot x

Josh took that as his cue to leave the house and get to the park, hopefully before Tyler. His car had been in the shop and was fixed now, so he was able to use his own car to get to the park. No curfew with his own car either, so he was able to stay out as late as he could, which was useful. He wanted to spend as much time with Tyler as possible. Holding the basket carefully so he didn’t disturb any of the food in the bottom of the basket, he made his way to the car. Setting the basket on the floor of the passenger seat, he drove off to the park, smiling a little. He parked in the parking lot, fixing his hair. He didn’t want to wear his snapback around Tyler on this special night. That and he didn’t want hat hair.

He unfolded himself off the seat, shutting his door and walking around to the other side, carefully moving the basket off the seat and walking into the gates, feeling his phone buzz with a message.

Text: Josh

I’m here. Where are you?

Text: Tyler

5 minutes, babe – walking through the park now.

Can’t wait to see you…x

Tyler smiled, looking at the text and taking his backpack off, putting it down by the bandstand, not wanting Josh to see that he’d bought his ukulele. He wanted to surprise him at the best moment during their date. He saw the bright hair round the corner and he ran over to him, wrapping his arms around his neck as Josh laughed. “Well, hey there,” he grinned. “Miss me?”

“So much,” he smiled. “So, are we having a picnic?”

“Mhm. I just have to get it prepped, so you just relax. I want to do all the work tonight. Sit back, baby,” Josh hummed, opening the wicker lid to get the blanket, unrolling it and laying it on the patch under the big tree. “You want a drink? I’ve got wine…and Red Bull. In case you don’t like wine.”

“Well we’re not exactly legal to drink are we? How did you manage to get a bottle of wine?”

“Mum has a cooler of like 20 at home. Sure she won’t miss one. Come on…live a little, sweetheart,” he winked.

“Alright, you pulled my leg… Just a little glass though.”

Tyler watched as Josh got everything set up, watching as he made everything perfect and glancing back at Tyler after he put the food on the blanket. “And dinner…is served, love,” he grinned. “Take a seat. I made burritos,” he smiled. He passed over the small glass of wine he had poured to Tyler, helping him sit down next to Josh.

“Thank you. I’ve been looking forward to this,” he smiled, reaching in for a foil wrapped burrito. They were still warm. “Being at school is hard; I mean we have to sneak around too much. But I can see why you’re worried about telling people… But it doesn’t matter. Who has to know but us, you know?” he said softly, starting to pull the foil away from his burrito and taking a small bite from it, the cheese burning his mouth a little. Maybe the burrito was a little more than just ‘warm’ – bad judgement on Tyler’s part.

Josh sat back and just sipped at his wine, picking at a burrito that Tyler had fished out for him. He was a little engrossed in his thoughts to notice that Tyler had finished and was drinking back his wine. “I’ve got something I want to do for you,” he smiled, standing up and holding his hands out to pull Josh up from the floor. “Come over here,”  he added, letting go of his hands as he walked to the bandstand and opened his bag, pulling his ukulele out, making sure the strings were still in key.

“Ty…”

“Hush. I wanted to,” he grinned, strumming at the ukulele as he channelled his nerves, starting to play the song he had been practicing.

He closed his eyes, starting to sing quietly, looking up at Josh after he’d started to sing. He wanted to see every emotion on his face as he serenaded him for their almost-2-month-anniversary.

 

_Well, you done done me and you bet I felt it_

_I tried to be chill, but you're so hot that I melted_

_I fell right through the cracks_

_Now I'm trying to get back_

He could see Josh smiling at him a little and Tyler’s lips spread into a coy grin.

_Before the cool done run out_

_I'll be giving it my bestest_

_And nothing's gonna stop me but divine intervention._

_I reckon, it's again my turn_

_To win some or learn some_

As he started the chorus, Tyler stepped off the bandstand and walked over to Josh, his heart pounding and his legs feeling weak – but he kept it cool for Josh.

_But I won't hesitate_

_No more, no more._

_It cannot wait,_

_I'm yours._

Tyler swore that he saw Josh whisper ‘that’s right’ to him, but he was too busy keeping his fingers playing as he walked back to the band stand as he did the harmonies with himself. He let himself sing louder as the next verse started.

_Well, open up your mind and see like me,_

_Open up your plans and damn you're free._

_Look into your heart and you'll find love, love, love, love._

_Listen to the music of the moment, people dance and sing, we're just one big family_

_And it's our God-forsaken right to be loved, loved, loved, loved, loved..._

Josh was fishing in his pocket for his phone at this point for his phone, wanting to record the moment so he could remember it forever and watch it whenever he felt the urge to. He hadn’t been serenaded before, he hadn’t serenaded anybody before. He didn’t sing and he’d only really had 2 relationships. One was experimental, and well the other was standing right in front of him singing Jason Mraz.

_So I won't hesitate_

_No more, no more._

_It cannot wait,_

_I'm sure._

_There's no need to complicate._

_Our time is short._

_This is our fate,_

_I'm yours._

Tyler started scatting and Josh laughed, joining Tyler on stage, dancing beside him and trying to get a hold of his waist.

_Do you want to come on, scooch on over closer, dear?_

_And I will nibble your ear_

Tyler danced away from him and started to do a back bend to mimic the lyrics, sticking his tongue out at Josh as he tried to reach in for a kiss off him, slipping away from him to continue singing,

_I've been spending way too long checking my tongue in the mirror_

_And bending over backwards just to try to see it clearer_

_But my breath fogged up the glass_

_And so I drew a new face and I laughed._

Tyler let himself get drawn into the song, grinning widely at Josh as he sat on the ledge of the bandstand, using his phone flashlight like one would at a concert.

_I guess what I'll be saying is there ain't no better reason_

_To rid yourself of vanities and just go with the seasons,_

_It's what we aim to do._

_Our name is our virtue._

Tyler started to walk close to Josh, looking up into his brown eyes, swearing for a minute he could see slight tears brimming at Josh’s lids, or maybe they were his because he’d never done this for anybody ever before and it was slightly scary – practically confessing love after 2 months. Even if they had already made out in every secret room on school grounds and in his car and in the park… and after their previous encounter in the bathroom…Tyler really shouldn’t be scared of singing his love to him.

_But I won't hesitate_

_No more, no more._

_It cannot wait,_

_I'm yours._

_Well, open up your mind and see like me,_

_Open up your plans and damn you're free._

_Look into your heart and you'll find that the sky is yours._

_So please don't, please don't, please don't_

_There's no need to complicate._

_'Cause our time is short_

_This oh, this oh, this is our fate._

_I'm yours._

Tyler started to scat again, smiling as his singing started to get quieter, looking up at Josh as he finally stopped singing.

_Oh, I'm yours_

_Oh, I'm yours_

_Oh, oh,_

_Baby, do you believe, I'm yours?_

_You best believe, you best believe, I'm yours._

“I love you, Joshua Dun,” he grinned at him, putting his ukulele to the side as he wrapped his arms around his neck. “More than time, words and song could ever tell. I want to be with you forever, and I want nobody to get in between us. Not parents, not friends, or lovers, or crushes. Nobody…I want it to be just us. You and me against the world,” he whispered, kissing Josh slowly, humming in satisfaction as Josh wrapped his arms around his waist and kissed him back. It went from romantic to full blown passion quickly, ripping small moans from Tyler as he pulled away.

“I love you too,” he murmured. “This is just our little world. Nobody gets in, and I’m definitely not going to let you out,” he grinned, kissing Tyler again softly as he walked him back to the blanket. “You’re a really…really good singer,” he cooed after they were lying down, Tyler’s hand lazily stroking Josh’s chest through his shirt.

“Thank you,” Tyler whispered quietly. “You’re a really…really good kisser,” he blushed, moving to straddle him and kiss him again slowly, feeling Josh’s hands creep up the back of his shirt and onto his skin, lightly dragging his fingernails over his skin.

They made out for another 10 minutes before Tyler was rolling his hips helplessly – he had the sex drive of a 13 year old at 19. How refreshing. Anybody would think he was a virgin – oh wait, he was. Josh didn’t seem to mind and just rolled him onto his back, still kissing him as his hands drifted to his hip bones.

“Ty…? Can we… try…something,” Josh whispered, kissing his neck softly as Tyler nodded. His hand disappeared inside the picnic basket, pulling the bottle of lubricant out. “I want you…to tell me…if I go too far, okay? I don’t want to hurt you, or do anything stupid,” he murmured, moving his hands to Tyler’s jeans and popping the button, gingerly sliding the zipper down and helping him lift his hips to pull the denim down, Tyler groaning in slight relief as the pressure was relieved. He had no idea what was about to happen.

Josh moved his hands to the waistband of his underwear, pulling them down and moving back to take his jeans and underwear off the entire way, not leaving Tyler exposed to the cold for too long as he lay back between his legs, sliding a hand around the back of his thigh and onto his ass. “Relax for me, baby boy, can you do that for me?” he cooed, slicking up and gingerly pressing his finger against Tyler’s hole. They hadn’t done anything like _this_ before, so Tyler stiffened up, but relaxed as Josh whispered encouraging words, and he found Josh’s finger being gratefully accepted. “You want more, baby?” he whispered, biting his lip as Tyler moaned, rolling his hips down and taking in the second finger that Josh pushed in slowly. Josh was kissing Tyler delicately, swallowing his moans and soft whimpers, not sure if they were because he was doing something he was completely inexperienced in, or if he was enjoying it that much.

After a few moments of Josh prepping him he gently slid his fingers from his ass, wiping them on the picnic blanket and taking no time in getting his jeans down to his knees. “You okay with this, Ty?” he whispered. “Say no and we stop, okay?”

“I want it…Keep going,” he whispered, kissing Josh’s chest as his chest heaved and his cock leaked a little, biting his lip to bite back a moan. “Please… Josh… **please** _I want it…_ ,” he murmured. Josh’s heart grew at his begging, and his hand dipped back in to get the silver foiled packet. He covered himself in the lubricant and then slid the condom on, covering the condom with the excess that was on his hand.

“Ready, baby?” he asked.

“Yes…yes…” he smiled, arching his back up a little as Josh pushed at his entrance – he was a little bigger than two fingers. He should have pushed for more preparing, but how was he supposed to know what this would feel like? It felt like every pain imaginable – but it was a good pain. This was what people in love did - they made out, had sex, showered together, slept together. Couples did everything together, even sharing intimate moments such as taking virginities – something Tyler was glad that Josh was doing.

Josh stayed still for a few moments, waiting for Tyler to nod his head to the unasked question, pulling out and starting to move slowly, leaning onto his elbows, kissing Tyler lazily. Tyler chanted out Josh’s name, lacing his fingers into his hair, and Josh nipped at his neck and collarbone. Josh let a hand move between them, taking Tyler’s neglected cock into his hand, pumping lazily in time with his slow thrusts, Tyler moaning out loudly. “You close, baby?”

“S-so close,” he whispered, scrunching his eyes tight. “God…Josh…” he groaned, bucking his hips into his hand.

“Come on baby…let go for me…come for me,” he breathed, biting down and sucking on his skin as Tyler’s moan came out in a cry of ecstasy, his come spurting out over Josh’s hand, chest, and covering his own a little. Josh felt Tyler tense up as he came, the tightness inside him throwing his thrusts off rhythm, finishing inside the condom as he rolled his hips down.

“I love you,” Tyler whispered hoarsely, petting Josh’s slightly damp sex hair, closing his eyes, not caring for the dulling pain in his ass, or the cooling come on his chest. He wanted to stay in the air for ever, but Josh pulled out and started to clean him up and pull his clothes back on.

“It’s Friday night… stay at mine. My parent’s won’t mind…”

“Mine will…”

“Just tell them… you’re… Fuck. Text them, tell them you’re at a party with the girls.”

“Okay,” he murmured, finding his phone in his jacket pocket and texting his mom, not waiting for a response as he grabbed his ukulele and bag, following Josh out to his car.

“Happy two-month anniversary, Josh,” he smiled, leaning into the back of the car as he kissed him again.

“Happy two-month anniversary, Tyler…”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween School Disco & a lot of angst & fluff.

It’s three days before the “Halloween Scare Fest Lock down,” – try saying that five times fast. It’s difficult, that’s for sure. Tyler had decided to be a nurse...a slutty, nurse, for the disco and costume contest. He’d ordered the costume through Ashley’s ebay account – his parents had access to his account, if they saw him ordering something that risqué they’d for sure have questions.

  
Text: Ashley  
I need you to do my makeup the night of the Lockdown. I've never put on…makeup makeup before.

  
Text:Tyler  
Alright. What look you going for, Ty?

  
Text: Ashley  
Uh… Red lipstick…like…bright red. And eyeliner…and eyeshadow. What else do girls wear on their face?

  
Text: Tyler  
You just leave it to me. Come to my house after school the night before the Lockdown okay? I'll do it on the day so stop over if you can.

  
Text: Ashley  
Thank you, Ash. You're great, the best, thank you!!!

  
Text: Tyler  
No problemo, Ty. See you in school.

Tyler got ready for school as usual, taking the bus when it pulled up outside his house and walking in. Today he shared no classes with Josh, he had English, though. So at least he’d be with Ashley. When the bus arrived at school he went straight over to the girls table, seeing Josh’s jacket leaning against one of the poles.  
Oh no.

  
Tyler’s mind was racing with different thoughts about why Josh would be over by the girls table, unless he was suddenly brave about letting the popular girls know that he was dating Tyler now. Maybe word had gotten around by someone else and he was being given the ‘talk’ by the girls, to ‘look after him or else’.

  
“Oh... Hi J-” Tyler stopped himself from talking after he got closer. It wasn’t Josh at all. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m...”

  
“Tyler Joseph, heard all about you. I’m Brendon.” He held a hand out, shaking his hand a little too vigorously.

  
“How...How do you..?” Had josh been talking to the boys about him?

  
“The girls, little gossip divas,” he grinned.

“Anyway, where was I? Hayley, would you accompany me to Lockdown Friday night?”

  
“Nah... the girls and Ty and I have all made a pact.”

  
“we have? I mean. We have...?”

  
“Don’t you remember? The ‘nobody goes alone’ pact? I’m not gonna break that for a fuckboy. See ya, Brendon.” Hayley laughed and shooed Brendon away from the table, making room for Tyler.

  
“You were going to say Josh when you came over. Wanna tell me anything?” Ashley murmured, only loud enough for Tyler to hear. “Cause you can tell me, on Thursday, if you’re not comfortable now.”

  
“It’s nothing. I’ve just only ever seen and spoken to Josh. So when I saw the jacket I just thought it would have been him.” Tyler was a bad liar, but Ashley wasn’t really going to call him out.

  
Over lunch, Josh and Tyler were in room 7 again, Josh playing a hypnotic beat on the drums and Tyler sat on the table with his back against the wall, scratching down some lyrics.

  
“Whatcha writing, babe?”

  
“Nothin’. I just...I write my feelings. Sometimes they sound good. And I make a song about them.”

  
“Can I hear?” he grinned.

  
“it doesn’t sound good,” he mumbled.

  
“Don’t care. Wanna hear you sing. You’re pretty when you sing.” Josh laughed a little at Tyler flushing red.

  
“Alright, fine... just don’t laugh, okay? Nobodies ever heard my music before. People don’t understand them, you know?”

  
“I promise. I won’t judge. You sing for me, babe.”

  
Tyler looked down and held his head in one of his hands, starting out quietly and getting a little louder as he grew in confidence.

  
_I try desperately to run through the sand_  
_As I hold the water, In the palm of my hand_  
_Cause it's all that I have, And it's all that I need and_  
_The waves of the water Mean nothing to me_  
_But I try my best, And all that I can to Hold tightly onto_  
_What's left in my hand But no matter how, how tightly I will strain, the sand will slow me down_  
_And the water will drain, I'm just being dramatic_  
_In fact, I'm only at it again, as an addict with a pen_  
_Who's addicted to the wind, as it blows me back and forth, mindless, spineless, and pretend_  
_Of course I'll be here again, see you tomorrow but it's the end of today_  
_End of my ways as a walking denial_  
_My trial was filed as a crazy suicidal head case_  
_But you specialize in dying, you hear me screaming, "Father,"_  
_And I'm lying here just crying, so wash me with your water..._

  
He looked up at Josh, who was slightly entranced. “It was bad. I’m sorry. I’m no good at writing songs. ‘s why I decided not to show or perform it to people...”

  
“Hey, stop doubting yourself. You’re goodn, okay? You’re so good at writing, and singing, and playing piano and ukulele. You’re even better at being cute. And being kind...and sweet and you do you know what you’re best at over all?” Josh stood up from behind the drum kit and maneuvered to the table where he was sitting, resting his hands on either side if him.

  
“No. What is it,” he smiled softly, tugging his lip between his teeth.

  
“you’re best at kissing me,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss him slowly, cupping his face.

  
Tyler wrapped his arms around his neck, draping his legs around his waist and holding onto him for dear life. “Really?”

  
“Absolutely,” he murmured, taking the chance of his mouth being open to slip his tongue into his mouth. They pretty much stayed attached by the hip, or rather lip, for the rest of lunch. When the bell rung, signalling the end of lunch, Tyler pulled away, his chest heaving and his lips swollen, exposed skin flushed red and hair a damn mess because Josh just wouldn’t stop pulling.

  
“I love you, baby boy,” Josh whispered. “I’ll see you soon,” he added. Josh fixed his appearance and grabbed his bag, leaving Tyler still panting for breath.

  
☆

  
It’s Thursday. Tyler has been away from Josh for 2 days, he hadn’t seen him since lunch but they’ve been texting occasionally. Blurryface tried to get in at several times, without the physical contact of Josh he was vulnerable. Without the constant attention he was so vulnerable. Blurryface told him that Josh didn’t really love him and that he was just using him to get his leg over. Tyler somewhat believed him, but his own rationality bought him back and he slapped the thoughts away.

  
Tyler was stopping over at Ashley’s tonight, school was cancelled on Friday for the Lock down, which meant they had enough time to trial makeup looks. For sure Tyler knew he wanted bright red lipstick, glossy, not matte. He liked the way light reflected off of a glossy finished lipstick. Plus it was easier to leave lipstick marks on skin with gloss. He’d discovered that when his sister had tried to put makeup on him that one time, boy did he regret wiping it with his hand. He wanted to look hot, sexy, gorgeous, jaw droppingly beautiful, all for Josh. He wanted Josh to get up the courage and pull him away from the party and up against a wall somewhere out the back of the school and just make out with him. He realised he’d gone to far with his thoughts when he saw Ashley clicking her fingers in front of him.

  
“Earth to Tyler...come in Tyler,” she laughed.

“God you were really out of it then. What were you thinking about?”

  
“Oh. Just nothing. Nothing important.”

  
Ashley didn’t look convinced. “Hey, I’ll tell you what would look great with your nurses outfit? Giant...gold...hoops.”

  
“Problem there. Haven’t got my ears pierced,” Tyler shrugged.

  
“I can pierce them for you.”

  
“I don’t know. What if something goes wrong...”

  
“I’ve done all of Hayley’s piercings and she’s still got a normal looking face. You’ll be fine. It’s just your ears. Not like I’m piercing your nipples or something. Come on, Ty...”

  
And once again, Tyler had his leg pulled. Getting his ears pierced didn’t hurt as much as he expected. Passing out because he saw how much blood had come out however hurt like a bitch. He came to with plasters over his lobes.

  
“Sorry Ty, never happened like that before. I’ve just put some studs in for now, so the holes don’t close up. So be careful when you remove the plasters.”

  
Tyler sat up and rubbed his head where he’d hit it off the cupboard over the sink in an attempt to pull himself away in shock. “My head hurts...”

  
“there’s some Tylenol on the side. Thought it would hurt. You really took a blow to the head. But nothing distracts you more than looking at makeup looks. You just pick the look that you like most and we’ll see how it looks with your outfit on.”

  
Tyler took the pills at the side of the bed, flipping through books. “I like this one.” The model had bright (overdrawn) red lips, a sharp angled face from contouring, with fierce eyeliner with a smokey eye shadow and even sharper eyebrows. “Do this one,” he grinned. “it looks sexy and slutty,” he laughed.

  
☆

  
It was Friday, Tyler had woken up at 11am, the Lockdown started at 3pm, when school was over for the day. That meant he and Ashley had 4 hours to get his makeup looking perfect. The night before they had a photo shoot and Tyler looked killer in his costume and makeup. They hadn’t tried the earrings yet, so they’d do that today. Ashley slowly woke up, making some eggo’s and passing a plateful to Tyler. “Eat up. Busy day, don’t want you passing out again.”

  
He ate quietly but quickly, buzzing with excitement and unable to sit still. He put the empty plate aside, excusing himself to wash the sleep from his eyes and inspecting his ears. Slight clumps and flakes of blood littered his skin, but it didn’t bother him that much. It didn’t make him wanna pass out this time so that’s a good sign.

  
He walked back out. “Should I put my costume on now or later?”

  
“Do it now, we can cover the fabric with a towel so it doesn’t get littered with makeup.”  
2 hours go by, and Tyler is dressed to the nines again in his outfit, the makeup looking amazing and the costume complimenting him entirely. “Ashley I need some shoes to go with this. Red heels or knee high boots, like the models wore,” he said, fixing the red bow at the top of the thigh highs. He waits for Ashley to get distracted in looking for shoes, snapping a photo of himself and sending it to josh.

  
Text: Josh  
[Picture message sent]  
The doctor isn’t in today, but I am. Can’t wait to see you, beautiful. Xox

  
“Here you go, hope you can walk in these, I’ve got some red flats if your feet hurt. We’ll take them and you can change if your feet start hurting during the dance.”

  
“Thanks Ashley. What do you think, reckon I’ll get any attention from the Alien clique?” he grinned, slipping his foot into the black booties she gave him – luckily they share the same shoe size.

  
“Mmm...possible. Why, got your eyes on anybody?”

  
“One or two,” he mused.

 

“Oh? Pray tell, Tyler. Who is it who holds your love?”

  
Tyler laughed as he zipped the boots up and stood up. “Well... you can’t tell anybody, okay? But...It’s Josh. I may slightly have a little bit of a teeny tiny crush on him.”

  
“Well I think by the end of the night you might jut end up going home with him. Come on, it’s almost 2.30. Don’t want to miss the start of the Lockdown now do we?”

  
Tyler grinned and mussed his hair in the mirror, smiling widely and making his way out to front of the house, getting into Ashley’s moms car. Ashley is dressed as a zombie school girl, going slightly casual. She’s got an embroidered jacket that reads “I’M DEAD BUT I STILL HAVE SCHOOL”, which is ripped and torn and covered in a sticky fake blood substance. She’s being careful of getting it on the suede interior of the car.

  
Tyler checks his phone for any texts and sees nothing from Josh, sighing and putting his phone away after silencing it. Ashley’s mom drives them to the school, and Tyler thanks her mom for the lift, getting out as he pulls down his skirt and fixes up the ruching fabric of his thigh highs.

  
“ready Tyler?”

  
“As I’ll ever be.”

  
He walks into the school, keeping his head up and a smile plastered on his face, looking at how the school has been transformed so dramatically. He looks around for josh and spots him in the corner of the room. He’s dressed as a fireman and his shirt is unbuttoned and his muscles are on show. It takes all of Tyler’s self control not to pounce on him there and then.

  
Josh is stood with a few of the boys, and Debby, who is conveniently wearing the same outfit as Tyler walks over to him.  
“Hey, Josh. You’re looking very...very fine today, might I say,” she grins, running a manicured fingernail over the centre of his chest. “I miss you, you know. We had a good time last year. If we had lasted this long maybe we’d be dressed as a couple costume, maybe you’re saving me from a burning building doing a fireman’s lift. But you wouldn’t need to do that to have a squeeze,” she winks, taking one of his hands and putting it on the curve of her bum. “See you later,” she smiles, strutting away, purposefully making him look.

  
“You gonna try again with Debby dude? She’s smokin’.”

  
“Nah. I don’t know, man. She’s just too forward.”

  
Tyler had seen the entire scene, his hands balled by his sides. Ashley noticed.

  
“You okay? Sorry, Ty...”

  
“Who was she,” he murmured, still looking at josh as he threw his head back and started laughing.

  
“His ex-girlfriend. They broke up before summer.”

  
“Summer... heh.” _So much for summer flings. Looks like you’re just one, pretty boy._

“Excuse me, Ashley. I’ve...I’ve gotta get some air,” he murmured, walking towards the door, having to pass Josh. He locked eyes with him and looked down, hurrying out of the hall, almost unable to hear Josh calling him, his sense of hearing blocked out and dominated by Blurryface.

  
_Your love wasn’t real. His love for you isn’t real. You’re a fling and nothing more. You lost your virginity to a guy with probably isn’t gay. He’s probably fucked her more times than you’ve kissed him. He probably enjoys fucking her more than your tight little as-_

  
“Go away!” Tyler snapped, he had walked far into the corridors, ending up in the music department, outside room 7, the soundproofed room. He twisted the handle. It was unlocked. “Just go away, leave me alone. You win, Blurry. I get it, Josh didn’t really love me. Summer was summer and I should have made a move but I didn’t! You win, leave...me...alone, please,” he whispered, running his hands through his hair and hearing a knock at the door.

  
“T-Tyler..? Can we talk, please? I know you’re in there I saw you go in.”

  
He stood up from the floor, wiping his eyes with minimal smudges and he opened the door, looking up at Josh. “No. I’m sorry. I don’t want to talk to you tonight. I want you, and I want Blurry, and I want the boys, and the girls, and the teachers and my parents to leave me alone. I’m sorry, Joshua.”

  
“Tyler...”

  
“Josh... I saw you talking to her. You were touching her and laughing with her and I saw you staring at her. Please just, tell me the truth, please... do you love me?” he whispered.

  
“Of course I do,” Josh answered, taking his hand. “Debby means nothing to me...”

  
_He doesn’t. He’s lying. He’s a liar. Liar. Liar. Liar. LIAR!_

  
“Then why...were your hands... on her ass,” he hissed.

  
“I didn’t put them there. She did, she put them there! It happened fast, okay? I didn’t know what was happening.”

  
Tyler shut his eyes and pulled his hand from his grip, gritting his teeth. “ _Bullshit_.” Tyler hadn’t sworn before. Ever. Not to his parents or to a friend or a teacher, much less a boyfriend. “That is the biggest lie in the book. I think...I think you should leave me alone, Joshua... you need to think...about what you want. I know she’s your ex, and that you’ve never played around with guys before do maybe this is all new to you and you’re confused. But I know...that I’m not confused because I love you.” He closed his eyes. “Please...just leave,” he murmured, turning to go back into the room.

  
He closed the door and leant against it, waiting to hear Josh leave the corridor. After about fifteen minutes he took his phone out and saw messages from ashley asking where he was. He couldn’t exactly hide. He consoled himself and left the room, keeping his head down as he walked back to the disco. He saw Debby again standing near what had been transformed into the haunted house, and saw Josh standing near it, coming over to him as he stepped into the hall.

  
“Tyler... Would you like to come into the Haunted House with me?”

  
“I don’t...do haunted houses.”

  
“I’ll go in with you,” he heard a voice, he looked over Josh’s shoulder. Debby.

  
“It’s not going to be that scary, Tyler... please?” he lowered his voice. “I’ll hold your hand and hug you when you get scared. That’s what boyfriends are supposed to do right?”

  
“Go in with Debby...” he murmured, looking down at the floor. “I’ll wait here for you.”

  
Josh turned in defeat towards Debby. “Well... come on then. Let’s go.”

  
Debby smiled and grabbed onto his arm, hooking her hand at the junction of his elbow. “Yay!” she hurried over with him. Tyler saw them disappear into the haunted house and he sighed.

  
Ashley came up to him. “I think you’ve got more than a crush on Josh,” she said. “You wanna tell me anything?”

  
Tyler sighed in defeat. “Please don’t tell anybody else? Josh and I met on holiday in summer. He liked long walks on the beach and I liked them too. We got to know each other and he gave me his number but I lost it. And then my parents surprised me and said we were moving because my dad got transferred to Ohio and well, I found him again. We went on a date and he asked me to go out with him and I said yes and well now look. He’s fooling around with his ex girlfriend again.”

  
“I’m sorry... boys are jerks, but she’s worse.”  
Tyler closed his eyes and shook his head.

“I’m so stupid...” He heard a scream come from the haunted house and then Debby and Josh running out, or rather Debby pulling him along and then into a tight hug.

  
“My hero,” she grinned. “saving me from all the big scary monsters.” Tyler scoffed, looking at them, wishing he had ripped his gaze away as she kissed Josh and Josh...kissed back, and didn’t recoil or push her away.

  
“He doesn’t love me, does he,” he whispered.

  
“don’t be silly. He does. Look he’s coming back over. Just...go talk to him Tyler. I’ll keep Debby occupied. You obviously need to talk together. Go find somewhere private.”

  
“Tyler... please just...hear me out. Can we go somewhere?”

  
“Fine.”

  
☆

  
That somewhere was sitting on top of Josh’s car. Tyler sat upright, fidgeting with his hand and looking straight ahead, trying to not look at him.

  
“Tyler... Tyler please look at me.” No response. “Please...?” Josh reached out tentatively, taking hold of Tyler’s hand – or at least trying to, he pulled his hand away. “Me and Debby. We...aren’t anything anymore. She’s trying to get back with me but she doesn’t know about us. If ‘us’ even exists anymore,” he sighed. “She’s forward, she’s always been like that... being touchy feely all the time and very expressing. I broke up with her because of that, Tyler.”

  
Tyler scoffed a little. “Then why did you decide to go out with me? Spend your time on holiday with me? You’ve never had any intimate contact with a boy before so how did you know you liked me...loved me...?”

  
“Tyler...I knew from the day I saw you I liked you. I fell down the rabbit hole when I didn’t hear from you. I knew our love was meant to be when we reconnected 2 months ago. I don’t know about you, but they have been the best two months of my life,” he whispered.

  
“Josh...” Tyler whispered. “Do you mean it?” he asked quietly, looking at the floor.

  
“Uh-huh. Every word.”

  
_Liar. He’s lying. Don’t forget he’s a liar._

  
Tyler shook his head. “No...” he murmured. “Shut up...”

  
“Tyler..?”

  
“Not you. No not you. Him.”

  
“Tyler. Who’s him? Who is he? Tell me...”

  
“Blurry...Blurryface,” he mumbled.

  
“I didn’t hear you,” he murmured, tilting Tyler’s chin up to look at him.

  
“Blurryface. He’s my dark thoughts. He’s saying you’re a liar. He’s telling me not to trust you...” he said softly. “I’m sorry...I... I don’t... I’ve never told anyone before.”

  
“Don’t be sorry. I’ll help you. I’ll be here for you. All the time. In the worst times and the best times. I will always be here. I promise you, Tyler,” he smiled reassuringly, kissing his hand. “I love you. No matter what’s wrong with you, no matter what he says to you, I’ll be here.”

  
“Thank y-you, Josh,” he whispered. “And I’m sorry...I yelled at you...and judged you...and doubted your love for me,” he murmured. “I love you too...and always will,” Tyler smiled softly, kissing Josh softly, the kiss quickly turning heated as Josh moved to pin Tyler to the hood of the car.

  
“Hey Dun! We wondered where you went off t-” a voice came. “Dude... You do realise that you’re kissing Joseph right?”

  
Josh sat up, looking over at the guys. “Course I do. Fellas, I’d like you to meet Tyler. We’re dating. And have been for 2 months.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ack this chapter is terrible. not happy with it in the slightest. it's like borderline nsfw, no smut. major fluff alert.   
> big thanks to the 200+ hits i received with my last chapter!!! Your comments and kudos really help me feel like you guys care about my fic lmao thanks!  
> I wrote this in about 24 hours so its short and like a filler chapter which irks me slightly. Shortest chapter to date i think. anyway enough rambling!!  
> hope you enjoy this!

Tyler felt his heart racing in his chest. His biggest secret has just been revealed. What was Josh thinking? His hand instinctively curled into Josh’s shirt and he closed his eyes. “Josh...” 

“It’s okay, Tyler,” he murmured, pressing a kiss into his hair, brushing his arm soothingly. 

The boys were still standing off near the wall. “And I’m sure you guys won’t have a problem with it, right?” Josh’s voice seemed threatening, protective of Tyler. The boys all murmured and agreed that it was okay and none of their business, rubbing the backs of their necks. 

“This isn’t how we planned on telling our friends, but we knew it had to happen eventually.” Josh took Tyler by the hand. “Go wait for me, okay? We can either go room 7 or the 3rd floor west building,” he whispered. “Text me when you pick.” 

Tyler uncurled himself from Josh, sat up on the hood of the car. Pushing himself off the car, he slipped off his shoes, running back into the school. Brendon stared after him, as his skirt was a little rode up from where Josh had made an attempt at straddling him before they were interrupted. 

“Ay...Urie. eyes on me, aight? He’s mine.” Josh snapped his fingers and Brendon whipped his head around guiltily, looking down at the floor, the sky, anywhere but at Josh. 

“C’mon, talk to me, boys. You’ve not said a word since I told you.” 

“What do you want us to say? We’re happy for you?” 

“It’d be nice, yeah. Don’t think that anything is going to change, we’re still going to be the clique, we’re still going to have our boys nights,  I’ll just have Tyler with me for some of them.” He pushed himself off the hood of his car, running a hand through his hair. 

“Yo, Dun, I really got to say this man. I just didn’t think you out as being...y’know,  gay. Tyler, I kind of thought, but you? Nah... Never saw something like this happen. I mean, you dated Debby for like 6 months. I thought you were straight.” 

“Well, Bren, things surprise ya. Now one thing – this gets out to anybody at all, and I’ll know it was one of you. And don’t think I won’t come and sort you out. I’ll see you boys later. Halloween party at my place on the 31st. Casual, no costumes, BYOB.” He jogged off back into the school, his phone buzzing with a message. 

Text: Tyler 

Room 7. I’m waiting. X 

He grinned a little and ran to the music department, slipping into the room. “Miss me?” 

Tyler grinned. “This is a bit like our first time,” he breathed, pouncing on josh and wrapping his legs around his waist, kissing him slowly. "Only it's different now. Because I've fallen for you harder than before." 

Josh kissed him back for the few seconds that the kiss lingered. Panting heavily, he bit at his own lip. “God, I love you,” he murmured, moving to kiss at his neck before Tyler shook his head.  

“Nuh-uh. I wanna leave my mark on you this time. I didn’t get all dolled up for nothing, babe,” he smirked, pressing his lips to his neck, satisfied with the bright red lip stain on his skin. He got brave and nipped a little, savouring the quiet moans and the familiar tug of his hair that Tyler had grown to love.  

Tyler littered small bruises on his exposed skin, kissing each mark gently and then reaching back up to kiss Josh's lips gently. "I love you," he murmured softly, biting his lip. "Thank you for being brave. And telling the boys. I'm proud of you," he whispered. 

"Hey...I would of told them, even if they didn't find us tonight. I would've told them at a later date, but I would have told them." Josh smiled gently, pressing another soft kiss to his lips. 

"Well I'm glad you told them when I was around. Made me feel special," he grinned, giggling a little bit. 

"We should probably go back to the party..." Josh whispered. 

Tyler made a noise of thought, winding his hands into Josh's open shirt, pulling him close. "Well...you say that, but who would really miss us?" Tyler whispered, spreading his lips into a bright red toothy grin. He looked into Josh's eyes and saw him contemplating, and then his eyes darkening as Josh pushed him up against the wall. 

"Hold on for me, baby boy. I'm not going to be soft with you, I've been waiting to get you alone for so long," he purred, tightening Tyler's legs around his waist and bringing his lips to his neck, kissing softly.  

Tyler giggled, tilting his head back and winding his fingers into Josh's hair. "I love you," he breathed, moaning gently as Josh bit on his collarbone, hearing him mutter 'love you, too,' as he pressed kisses on his jaw and then his lips again. 

They kissed, pressed up against the wall, for what felt hours, before Tyler was trying to get his feet back to the floor. "Josh... Baby... Babe..." He murmured, pressing soft, short, hot kisses to his lips. "Do you remember... the first time... we were alone? In the bathroom? When you...uh..." He blushed red at the thought, smiling softly.  

Josh smiled bright, chuckling a little, biting his tongue in his teeth. "I remember, babe. What would you like me to do," he whispered, holding his cheek, feeling his hot blush radiate on his palm. 

"Well...I uh...I would like...to do it t-to you," he blurted out, hiding his face.  

"Baby boy, you sure?" 

"Mhm..." 

"God you're too much for me. I love you." He kissed Tyler slowly, brushing his hair from his forehead. 

"But do you...do you want me to? Now, I mean..." 

"I won't push you to do it, if you don't want to, I won't make you," he whispered.  

Tyler smiled, kissing Josh back for a few seconds and closing his eyes. "Maybe next time, then. I just don't...want you...to feel like...You have to do all of the...activities in this relationship...because...of me." 

"I love doing them, babe. Don't worry. Let's just take it slow, take it easy for now, we've got all our time together. I love you. All I could want for now off of you...is you," he smiled.   

Tyler trailed his hands on his chest gently, leaning into him. "Thank you," he murmured, closing his eyes. He was quiet for a few moments, and then, "I wish we weren't on lockdown until tomorrow," he murmured. "I want to go home and spend every minute with you." 

"Come to my Halloween party in 2 weeks and you can, babe. Come on, lets just go back, enjoy the rest of the party. We can go to the haunted house. I'll hold your hand, hug you close, and never let go if you get scared." 

"Promise?" 

"I promise." 

Tyler grinned, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Okay. Just, go without me, I'll meet you near the haunted house in a few minutes. I need to go fix myself up." 

Josh slipped out of the room, leaving Tyler alone before he slipped out, walking to the nearest toilets to fix his hair and then his makeup – his lipstick was smudged a little. He loved it, because it showed how he'd been with Josh, and that Josh was his, but hated being untidy. He grinned at himself in the mirror, looking at the slight mark that Josh had left on his skin, ghosting his fingers slightly.   

When his makeup was fixed, he pulled his skirt back down, stepping out of the toilets, joining Josh in the Haunted House. He held onto Josh like he was his lifeline, and he was his saviour, guardian angel and protector. He'd protect him from anything. He trusted him to do that. 

By the end of the party, (midnight) Tyler was close to fainting in exhaustion, so he decided to pass out in the corner of the room, facing away from the others, who weren't really paying attention to him. Josh walked over when he was able to, lying down next to Tyler. 

"Sleep well, baby boy," he murmured into his ear, curling his arm around his waist, falling asleep beside him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forewarning for the next chapter - it will be triggering. I'll put a list in the notes section before the chapter starts, and I will make it clear when the triggers start and end. There will be multiple trigger scenes too, but I'll space them out. If you're uncomfortable, hit me up by messaging me, (is that an option on this site?) or commenting and i'll give a run down on what happened with the chapter when it's up. Stay safe everyone, your comments give me life when i read them!  
> if there's a particular scene you wanna read, comment them & i might use your prompt!   
> love you all!!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER  
> \- Homophobic language. Detailed but not directly spoken  
> \- Suicidal thoughts  
> \- Self harm thoughts  
> \- Suicide attempt
> 
> Stay safe everyone. I'm here if you need to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary showcased triggers.  
> Trigger scenes start with this '***' and end when '---' is seen,  
> Second half of the chapter is emotionally difficult.  
> Stay safe. ♥

Tyler went to Josh's Halloween party, he dragged Ashley along with him, only for the comfort of his parents. Something about 'we don't like you hanging out with boys alone', and that it 'threatened his religion'. If only they knew what their supposed perfect Christian son was doing with the leader of the popular boys group. 

He toned down his outfit, wearing just a plain black dress shirt and some jeans, paired with his favourite pair of flower print vans. He got to the party and Ashley left him alone, letting him have some time with Josh. Luckily the only people who actually showed up were the boys from the Alien Clique, and a few other people who Tyler didn't know. _Must be friends of Josh's,_ Tyler thought to himself, smiling a little.  

Tyler had his hand around the back of Josh's waist, holding him close to his side, thankful he was standing with his back away from the small crowd. He could trail his hands up the back of his shirt, fingertips touching his skin. Tyler rested his head on Josh's shoulder, closing his eyes and smiling a little. 

"I love you," he murmured, feeling Josh laugh a little. 

"I love you too," he whispered, kissing Tyler's head gently. "You want a drink?" 

"Lemonade?" Tyler asked, standing in front of Josh and taking the cup in Josh's hand. "Thank you," he hummed, taking a sip. 

Tyler stuck to drinking just soda and lemonade for the night, whilst Josh occasionally drank a few beers. Ashley went home when the party got quiet, Tyler took his phone out, quickly texting saying he was staying at Ashley's, but stayed wrapped in Josh's arms, resting his head lightly on his chest.  

His eyes were shut and he was unaware of the noise of a phone taking a picture. He was even more unaware of a cackling laugh and a mocking voice saying something. Josh seemed more interested on the sleepy boy in his arms. 

"You tired?" Josh murmured, carding a hand through his hair. Tyler nodded sleepily, lacing his arms around the back of Josh's neck. "Come on then, babe. I'll put you in my bed," he hummed. Josh helped him walk to his room, standing behind him as he walked him up the stairs. 

"You want to borrow some sweats to sleep in?" Josh whispered, sitting him on the bed.  

Tyler shook his head, looking up at Josh and holding his hand. "Sleep next to me," Tyler pouted softly. "I like sleeping next to you. 't makes me feel safe," he murmured. 

Josh couldn't resist the look on his face, sitting down and toeing his combat boots on, laying back and pulling Tyler with him. "You like it like this, baby boy?" Josh whispered, wrapping an arm around Tyler to pull him close.  

"Yeah... I love it, an' I love you." Tyler shut his eyes and smiled gently, falling asleep.

"Sleep well, Ty," he murmured, pressing his lips to Tyler's forehead and falling asleep next to him. 

☆ 

They spent as much time as they could in each others company, and Tyler was excited to go back to school. He made a promise to himself that he'd tell the girls today, after Josh had told the guys – well, was rather forced to. 

The first day back after the short break that they had was possibly one of the worst days. Tyler was wearing almost the exact same outfit as the first day, save for the short-shorts, because it was winter, and it was cold. He was stood waiting for the bus when a text came from Josh. 

Text: Josh 

Can't wait to see you, baby boy. Missed you this weekend x 

Tyler's lips curled into a small smile. 

Text: Tyler 

Missed you too. I'm telling the girls today, come over when you see me x 

Text: Josh 

Will do. Love you x 

Tyler stepped onto his bus, sitting right at the back, his backpack resting on his lap. He kind of wished that Josh got the bus, so they could have extra minutes together, but it also meant the time he got with him were extra special. He cherished those moments. 

The ride was quiet, mainly because nobody sat next to him. Also, he reason that people seemed to be, for some reason, avoiding him. The entire back of the bus was empty, save for Tyler. He kind of liked it, but it made him uneasy at the same time too, because he didn't know why people were ignoring him. 

Everyone practically leapt of the bus as they pulled into the school lot, leaving Tyler to slink off after everyone had ran away. He made his way over to the girls table, smiling widely. "Girls... I 've got some big news to tell you," he said in a sing-song voice, a smile spreading over his face. 

"Ashley already knows, but I think its high time i told the rest of you. I'm...going out... with-" 

"Josh Dun? Yeah... we know," Hayley said, biting at her lip a little. 

"How do you..? Ashley, did you tell them?" 

"Absolutely not. I kept it a secret. I keep my secret unless it's something that is dangerous to that certain individual." 

"Hayley... How do you know about Josh and I? How did you find out." 

"Somebody told me, said they saw a photo of you and Josh." 

"Where did they see the photo," he murmured, putting a hand through his hair. "Oh, god..." 

"It's...all around the school, Ty." 

"What do you mean it's all around the school, Hayley, stop being cryptic!" 

Tyler was too wrought up and frustrated that he didn't remember telling Josh to come over to him. Josh called his name and he turned around, smiling for a split second and then remembering the real problem. 

"Hey... what's wrong," he murmured, holding his arms out to hug him, and Tyler all but collapsed into his arms. 

"Everybody knows about us... There's a photo...around the school..." He breathed out. "Josh I didn't want everybody knowing," he whispered. 

"Hey, calm down, it'll be okay. We'll just go find the photo, and we'll take it down. Does that sound good?" 

Tyler nodded weakly, kissing Josh's shirt. "Yeah...yeah that sounds good. Let's do that now, then... before it gets difficult to. What with all the kids and stuff," he murmured. 

"Right, girls. I'll see you around." Josh said, giving a two finger salute to the girls as he walked away with Tyler still holding onto his waist. 

***

They walked around the school, looking for the photo. They passed classrooms, bathrooms and offices, stopping at the wall of lockers. More specifically, Tyler's locker. There was the picture, stuck to his door with tape. There were sticky notes stuck to the door each scrawled with mean messages and disgusting taunts. Tyler pulled away from Josh, taking one off his locker. 

"Josh...do they... Do they really think this of us? Of me?" Tyler whispered, tracing his fingers over the word ' _fag_ '. He bit back a sob and wiped his eyes. He picked up a different one, screwing the one in his hand up and tossing it to the floor. This one read ' _pansy_ ', and Tyler did the same, balling it up and throwing it away, flitting his eyes over a few more that read ' _fairy_ ' and ' _puff_ ' and ' _gayboy_ ', before he ripped them all off his locker, the insults fluttering at his feet. He slammed his fist against the harsh metal of the locker, sobbing into the crook of his arm. 

"Hey, hey. Come on, Ty... don't cry," Josh whispered, turning Tyler to face him and letting him cry on his chest, petting his hair. "We'll find out who did this, and I'll sort them out. I hate seeing my baby boy upset. I love seeing him smile. Smile for me, babe. Please?"  

Tyler shook his head. "Josh...I...I want to go home," he murmured. "Drive me home," he whispered. "I can't stay here..." 

"Tyler, c'mon... You have me to keep you safe. I won't let anybody hurt you. I promise." Josh wrapped his arms tight around him, kissing his hair.  

"You only have one lesson with me...what about the other times, lunch, and change over, and transition times?" Tyler's voice cracked with a hard sob. "They'll...They'll...They'll say stuff," he murmured, bringing his face out of his chest, letting Josh wipe his eyes. 

"The other girls will keep you safe. We're all friends here. Every one keeps everybody safe here. Now come on, lets fix up the floor, throw all these notes away, and let me walk you to class. We'll keep our heads high and won't care what anybody says because they'll only do it if they know it makes us sad." 

Tyler nodded, kneeling down on the floor and balling everything into his hands, throwing them into the trash can. "Alright... let's go," he murmured, taking Josh's hand and holding tight onto it, letting him walk him to class. 

\--- 

Tyler got home from school feeling as deflated as a metallic helium balloon that had been sitting in the sun for 3 weeks. He managed to drag himself into his room and onto his bed, wishing the mattress would swallow him whole. He wanted no contact with the outside world, not even from Hayley, or Mel, or Ashley or Josh. He just wanted to be left alone. However, being left alone wasn't always him being solitarily alone. Blurryface was always there, niggling in his mind, waiting for a time when his mind was most vulnerable to his own thoughts abuse. He looked up to the ceiling, staring in one spot until his eyes started making shapes in the patterns the paint had left when it was last decorated.  

 _Hey, fairy boy. Long time no speak. Miss me?_  

"Go away," he murmured. 

*** 

 _You know I can't go away. I'm always going to_ _be here. You want to_ _know how to get rid of me?_  

"How...?" 

 _All you got to do... Is go into your bathroom, pick up that razor...and just start_ _cuttin_ _'._  

"No... no...no I'm not going to," he whispered, covering his face.  

 _What, are_ _ya_ _scared..?_  

"No. I'm just not stupid." Tyler took a deep breath and shut his eyes. "Just...go away. Now. I don't want to talk to you anymore." 

Tyler was surprised when he actually went away. He sighed shakily and stood up from his bed, walking across the hallway to the bathroom, looking into the mirror of the bathroom cabinet. His hand reached up into the cabinet and pulled it open. He looked straight inside, seeing the various pill bottles and men's razors – his dad used them more than him.  Close his eyes, he did a 'lucky dip' deciding to go for the first bottle he picked up. 

Aspirin. 

He put the bottle on the side of the counter, walking out to the hallway and calling out. "Mom? Dad? You guys home?" Tyler waited out for an answer, and got none. He went and retrieved his phone, pulling up the text chain to Josh. 

Text: Tyler 

Josh. Baby...I'm sorry. I can't do it anymore. 

I can't cope with people rejecting me and saying stuff about me. 

It would all be better if I wasn't here. And I'm going away. 

Please...don't come save me...  

I loved you since the day I saw you. I know you'll hate me for doing this. 

I just... I can't do this. 

I love you. Find someone else for you. Someone who deserves you. 

Someone who isn't a coward. Someone who didn't kill themselves at 18. 

I love you, Joshua Dun. Don't forget me. 

Tyler. X 

Tyler bit back a sob, shut his phone off and walked into the bathroom, locking the door and opening the bottle, taking each pill out of the bottle. He counted each one he swallowed. 

"One..." He swallowed shakily, letting out a deep breath. "Two... Three..." He bit back another sob. "Four... Five..." He went to take another, a knock at the door. He ignored the knocking that turned into banging and the banging that turned into shouts through the letter box. He picked up a bunch in his hand, counting them out as he tossed them into his mouth. "Twelve..." He swallowed them dry, a thick lump in his throat as his body tried to reject the pills. 

"Tyler! Tyler open the door! Please!" Josh was stood outside the house, trying to find a way in.  

Tyler closed his eyes, getting another handful as he heard the door whack off the side of the wall. _Of course_ _he'_ _d_ _kick the door open._ "Josh, just go away, please," he said to himself, crying as he sat down, putting another pill in his mouth. He sobbed again as he swallowed the last one in his hand. He vaguely remembered Josh pounding up the stairs two at a time, opening every door he passed before getting to the bathroom. After that, everything went dark for him.

Josh had Tyler in his lap. "Oh... my darling boy... what are you doing to yourself..." He whispered, rocking him back and forth as he scrambled for his phone. "Don't leave me.. Please... please, please don't leave me..." He murmured, pressing the emergency services shortcut on his phone. 

"Ambulance... please...My...my boyfriend...he's taken aspirin...too much aspirin..." He cried into the phone. "Address...address... its...its 1600 Ashdowne... please hurry. Please." He shut his phone off, kissing Tyler's forehead. "Stay with me... please... I love you," he sobbed, "Can't live without you, baby boy..." 

\--- 

He rocked Tyler back and forth in his lap until he heard the sirens drawing close, hearing how loud they got as he realised the front door was still open. He heard voices calling into the house. 

"Hello? Did somebody call for a paramedic?" 

"Yes...Yes, yes!" Josh called out into the hallway. "Please... We need help..." He called.  

The footsteps sounded up the stairs and two paramedics walked in. One female and one older male. "We're the emergency response team. I'm Jess, and my partner is Roman. I need you to trust us for now. What's his name? Can you tell me his name? Can you do that for me...?" 

"Joshua... No I'm Josh. He's... His name...is Tyler." 

"Alright, perfect. Now Josh, how many has he taken?" 

"I don't...I don't know..." He took a deep breath. "Ten..? Fifteen? I DON'T KNOW!" He cried. "I got here too late, I couldn't stop him..." 

"Josh, I need you to calm down for me, okay? Take a deep breath...good... now exhale. Perfect... We're going to take him into the hospital. Do you have his parents phone numbers? Can you get in touch with his family?" 

"No. I haven't met them yet. I think they're in his phone though." He looked as Jess started to attach the ECG tabs to his chest and arms, starting to take readings. "Is he going to be okay?" 

"We're going to pump his stomach, give him some medicine to flush it out of his system. I promise you, Joshua. He'll be fine. Do you want to ride alongside him in the ambulance? He probably needs to know you're here now and supporting him." 

Josh stood up and nodded, seeing Roman walk in with a stretcher. "Give us a hand getting him on the stretcher, buddy. We need to be careful in case the leads come loose. We'll get inaccurate readings otherwise." Josh kneeled down, helping to move Tyler onto the stretcher and watching as he was strapped down.  

"Alright. Let's get going. Follow after Jess, we'll call his parents when we get to the hospital. Just to let them know." 

Josh nodded again, following them down the stairs and hopping into the back of the ambulance, taking a seat and squeezing Tyler's hand. "Come on...baby boy. Please be okay," he whispered. 

He flinched a little as the ambulance started, and the sirens echoed in the back, crouching over his stomach and sobbing softly. "Don't leave me, Tyler Joseph. Don't you dare leave me. I won't let you." He inhaled sharply, kissing his shirt, freely letting tears slide down his face, soaking the fabric gently.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> updating train woooo!  
> Triggers: discussion of suicide i guess? it's a very light discussion, only like one line.  
> Only updated so quickly because i didn't wanna leave on a cliffhanger for too long. anyway here you guys go

Tyler was hooked up to wires the minute they got him out of the ambulance. Josh was walking along side them, the squeaking of the gurney piercing his ears. His hand stayed curled on the metal bar of the gurney, closing his eyes as they hoisted Tyler onto a different bed separate from the ambulance bed he was bought in on. 

He was moved out of the room so the doctors could administer the medicine that would work on flushing the aspirin from his system.  

"Sir – due to Mr Joseph being unconscious, we're going to need you to fill in the admittance forms, just the fact that he has no record of being in this hospital before. You called, so I am assuming you know his address, and date of birth?" 

"Y-yeah... I know his address. But not his birth date. But his parents... they'll know, obviously," Josh said.  

"And do you know how to contact them?" 

"I bought...Tyler's phone. Their numbers are in his phone." 

"Very well, okay. Well I will leave you with these forms, you just fill them out, and when you're done, bring them right back to the nurses station, and we'll put him into the system. Also, if you could contact his parents whilst you're getting his details, we'd appreciate it. They'd probably be more at ease hearing it from a friend rather than an ER doctor." 

"Alright. I'll do that," he said, walking to sit back into Tyler's room. He turned on Tyler's phone, letting it load up whilst he filled in the details he knew. Details such as his home address, sexuality, phone number, school and emergency contact – he put himself in as default because he spent practically every day with him. Eventually Tyler's phone started to buzz and chime off with various text alerts and notifications. The majority were off his parents asking where he was and why there was an empty bottle of aspirin on the side, mud tracks on the carpet on the stairs. Josh forgot that he had ran across the grass  in the rush to get into his house. There were then a few off of Josh, frantic texts and panicked voice messages begging Tyler to answer him. 

Josh opened the contacts log, pressing call on the contact ‘Mother’ and holding the phone to his ear. The phone rang once, then twice, then was answered.

“Tyler Robert Joseph, where are you?” 

Josh stayed quiet for a few moments, consoling himself. “I-Uh... Mrs Joseph? This...I... uhm I’m Joshua Dun. I’m Tyler’s friend. He’s...he’s in the hospital.” 

“The hospital?” The voice hushed. “Chris, he’s in the hospital. No I don’t know why. Joshua, do you know what he did?” 

He took a deep breath. “Your son tried to overdose and commit suicide. I’m sorry. He’s getting his stomach pumped right now, but the doctors have requested you to show up and fill in some forms. I don’t know everything about his history.” 

“Thank you, Joshua. We are on our way.” The line went dead, signified by the triple beeping on Tyler’s phone. 

Josh heard groaning from the bed, and he looked up. “Baby...baby you’re okay, oh thank God,” he smiled. “Do you know where you are?” 

Tyler went to answer, but instead threw up onto the hospital bed sheet. He doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach as he gazed down at the small puddle of vomit on his lap, seeing the partially dissolved tablets. 

“Tyler...you took a lot of aspirin... you tried to kill yourself... but you’re okay now.” Josh was wiping Tyler’s mouth with some blue roll, smoothing his hand over his forehead. “I came and helped you.” 

Tyler’s breathed hitched, and he covered his face. “No...Josh. it isn’t okay. Don’t you understand? I tried...I did this...because... Because of school,” he whispered. He started to cry, sniffling. “People don’t care about me! They wouldn’t care if I jumped off the school roof or hung myself in the cafeteria, they don’t car-” 

“No! Stop saying that Tyler! Stop! People care about you. Look...I ran...from my house to save you. I care about you.” 

“You’re my boyfriend. You’re ‘sposed to care,” he sobbed. 

“Even if you were just my neighbour in the street and we had never talked I would care. Tyler please...you scared me. Please know that people care about you, baby. Your mom, and your dad are coming right now. If they understand then they’ll care.” 

“how do they know I’m here?” 

“I called them.” Josh saw the look of absolute terror on his face. “Hey hey hey, don’t worry they don’t know about us. I said you were a friend.” 

Tyler visibly relaxed and he smiled. “Thank you,” he whispered.  

“Look let’s get you cleaned up a bit. The smell of puke is too much to handle right now,” Josh laughed softly, balling the sheet and bundling it into the dirty linens basket outside the room. “You really scared me, you know,” he whispered. 

“I’m sorry.” Tyler picked at the IV a little, Josh batting his hand away. 

“Don’t be. I’ll feel selfish if you’re guilty.” Josh sighed, sitting in the seat. He looked out of the window, seeing two figures approaching the room quickly. “I think your parents are here. Do you want me to give you some time with them?” 

Tyler took a shaky breath and nodded. “Please,” he nodded, mouth suddenly dry. 

“Hey, it’ll be okay, alright? I’ll be back in about 15 minutes. I need to get some air... I've got to tell my mom where I am.” 

He smiled, squeezing Josh’s hand. “Okay. See you soon.” He let go of his hand and Josh left the room. 

“Mrs Joseph. Mr Joseph. I’m Joshua,” he said, but his dad just ignored him. 

“I’m so abut him. He’s not been speaking much since I told him. Thank you for being here to support him.” Kelly gave an appreciative smile, squeezing Josh's arm. She slipped away into the room, and Josh looked back for a second, walking out to the front entrance. 

Back in Tyler’s room, his mom was coddling him, taking care of him. “Are you sure you’re okay? Why did you do such a thing? Is everything okay at school? Are you still adjusting?” 

“Kelly, for earth’s sake...give the boy a chance to explain what happened!” Chris snapped. “Tyler... What happened?” 

“Well. I guess... Things haven’t been too great at school. I’ve got midterms coming up, and there’s a lot of stress about that. And there’s a few kids saying stuff...” 

“What stuff are they saying? Do we need to schedule an appointment with your principal?” 

“No no no! Not at all. They’re just kids being kids. Anyway...there’s more uh... personal stuff that’s happened too. Mom, do you remember back in California, when I told you about my head? And that there was something wrong with me? But you didn’t think anything of it because I was only 14?” Tyler’s mom nodded, and he continued. “Well uh... It never went away when you said it would. It’s been getting worse, actually. They say quite a bit of stuff to me. They tell me to hurt myself and kill myself... I guess I was just tired of hearing the voices.” He whispered, rubbing the back of his neck with a free hand. 

“Oh Tyler... I’m so sorry I didn’t take what you said seriously... this all could’ve been avoided. I’m going to book you in for a doctors appointment. You are going to tell them what you’ve told me and we are going to get you sorted out.” 

“Thank you, Mom,” Tyler smiled, coughing a little and reaching out for the paper waste bucket, throwing up another few of the aspirin in his system. He drank some water back. 

“Your friend said there was some forms to fill in. Are these them?” Chris asked, tapping on a clipboard. 

“Uh yeah... he filled in some of it. It’s the blank boxes that need filling in.” 

What Tyler wasn’t aware of the box that said ‘sexual orientation’...and that Josh had ticked 'homosexual'.  

“Son? Did your friend make a mistake on the form? He ticked the wrong box.” 

“Uh, which box did he tick? I was kind of unconscious when he was filling it in..." 

"Well he ticked that your orientation is homosexual," Chris said, looking up as Tyler's eyes widened. Tyler tried to knock it off with a laugh, scratching his palm with his thumb. "Tyler? Is there anything the matter?" 

"Huh? Uh, oh no. Everything's okay," he said, closing his eyes. "Dad, can you go get me some more water please? I've run out of this jug," he said, idly picking at his IV until his dad left the room. "I'll fill in the forms. I can do it," he said, reaching forward for the clipboard, quickly filling it in. 

"Tyler don't you need new forms?" Kelly questioned. 

"Well... not exactly, no," he said quietly. "Josh filled it in right, actually," he added. "I...am... gay." 

"Tyler... how could you be? You always went out with the girls from your school. I thought you were at least... Tyler, who is Joshua...to you?" 

"Well he is a friend...only more than that. Mom I hate for you to have to find out like this but I am gay and I'm in a relationship and Josh loves me and I love him." He blurted out, but continued. "And the kids at school found out when I was at a party with him and they took a photo of us together and they've been saying mean things about me and that's why I swallowed half of that bottle of aspirin because I didn't want anybody else finding out especially you and dad..." he took a deep breath as his dad walked into the room. 

"Finding out about what?" Chris asked, placing a new jug of water on the side and filling a cup for Tyler. 

"Chris... Can I speak with you outside in the hall?" Kelly said curtly, walking out of the room and putting her hands through her hair. 

Chris followed her out and Josh stepped back into the hospital, pocketing his phone and readjusting his hat. "Kelly? What's going on?" 

"Chris our son is...in a relationship. With a boy." 

"What? Who is he?" 

"Joshua. The boy who brought him in and told us." 

Chris's face stiffened, looking down the hallway as he heard the squeak of sneakers on the linoleum floor. "Is that him," he asked, mildly gesturing with his hand as he saw Josh round the corner with his hands in his pockets. He saw Kelly nod and he sighed deeply through his nose. "I don't like it, Kelly. This isn't how we raised him to be." 

"I don't like it either, Chris. However it's Tyler's choice in who he is in a relationship with. We can already see that he's a fine choice. He saved our son from dying and let us know he was in here. The least we can do is act like we like it. Maybe we'll grow to accept it." Kelly looked up and smiled at Josh as she heard the footsteps stop. "Hello, Joshua." 

"Hi.  Is he doing okay?" Josh asked, peering into the room. 

"Tyler's doing fine. Thank you for being there for him. I know that you mean a lot to him. Vice versa too it would seem." 

"Huh?" 

"Tyler has told us the truth about you two." 

"… Oh..." 

"And whilst the news has come as a shock to the both of us, we have decided to acknowledge you two are in a relationship. We wish you both the best. Now we have to go, we have to put dinner out for Tyler's sister. See you sometime again, under better conditions I hope?" 

"Yes. Of course. Goodbye, Mr Joseph. Mrs Joseph." Josh nodded, shaking his hand and hugging her. He watched them walk away and then stepped back into Tyler's room. "Heard you told your mom and dad." 

"Kind of had to. My dad saw you ticked the box that said I was gay on my medical forms." Tyler said, laughing softly and reaching out for Josh's hand. 

"I've been doing that a lot, accidentally outing us." Josh laughed, standing next to Tyler before kneeling down next to him on the floor. 

"Ah, don't worry about it. They had to find out someday," he smiled, pushing his snapback off and ruffling his hair. "You gonna stay tonight?" 

"Yeah, I need something to eat though. Do you think the hospital sell tacos?" Josh joked. 

"Probably not," Tyler chuckled. "I'd kill for some tacos right now though," he hummed. 

Josh pulled his phone out, opening up the maps function. "There's a Taco Bell 2 miles away. I'll go walk down and get some. Any preference on your taco?" 

"Surprise me. Or if you want to be the best boyfriend ever, you'd get me a burrito." He grinned. 

"What do you have on your burritos?" 

Tyler's eyes lit up, cackling. "Oh you're not being serious. You actually going to get me one?" 

"Of course." 

"Oh...I love you. So so much. Okay, so my burrito – white rice, it's a shame it's not a Chipotle burrito, because it'd be great with half chicken, half sofritas. So just extra shredded chicken. No black beans, no exceptions. Pico, extra sour cream, and then cheese and lettuce on top." Tyler grinned widely as Josh wrote it down on his phone memos. 

"Alright. I'll be back in a little while baby. I love you," he smiled, kissing his cheek. 

"Oh, oh! And an extra large baja blast," he called as he left the room, chuckling a little. 

"Your wish is my command. See you in a bit," Josh smiled, walking out of view from Tyler, jogging to the Taco Bell.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i was gone for so long! i wasn't feeling up to updating, i had a bit of writers block. i knew what i wanted to write but not how to phrase it.  
> slight trigger warnings for this chapter. talk of suicide/suicide attempts, self harm, homophobia.  
> next chapter will have better spirits! :)

Tyler was released from hospital 2 days later. He’d missed 2 days of school but Josh visited and filled him in on work he’d missed out on.  

The school had heard about what had happened and the entire year group was taken into an assembly and warned that if there was any more bullying or harassment of the like they’d be expelled or suspended and Josh felt his heart grow a little warm.  

Realistically the event shouldn’t have happened, it was the 21st century, being gay was normalised, gay marriage was legal in almost every country in the world. It isn’t so much as a crime as it was in the 60’s, but he guessed some people were just bought up with different morals. 

Tyler's mom had been researching some therapists, despite Tyler saying that he could handle it himself. But for his mothers peace of mind, he let her do the research and he'd  go to the one that she suggested. 

Surprisingly, his parents didn't decide to quiz him on his sexuality like he supposed they would. They let it be, really. He expected them to sit him down and say that it was just a phase and he'd grow out of it. Maybe they didn't want to drive him back into the hospital again.  

It could have been worse, he supposed. They could've sent him to conversion therapy. That probably would have sent him to the hospital, maybe this time in a body bag, or something. 

* 

Tyler's mom found him a therapist. She insisted on taking him to his first appointment, but he wanted to go out with Josh afterwards, so he convinced her to drop him off at his house so they could take Josh's car. 

"Thanks for this mom. Maybe for my next appointment you can drop me in. Okay?" 

"Of course, sweetie. You'll be okay alone won't you?" 

"I'll be fine. I'll have Josh waiting in the waiting room if anything goes wrong or if I need him." 

"Okay. You just ring me when you get out, I want to know how it went. Now go, or you'll be late," she said, kissing his forehead, leaving an embarrassing lipstick stain.  

"Mom..." He groaned, wiping the lip shape from his skin. "I'll see you later." He opened the door after taking his seatbelt off, rushing over to Josh's door, knocking it in the 'shave and a haircut' fashion.  

His mom had driven off by the time he'd done this, and he wrapped his arms around Josh's neck. 

"Hey, Ty. How you doin'? Ready for your appointment?" 

"I'm ready," he smiled. "Pretty hungry. Can we stop off at a taco bell for brunch?" 

"Of course. Come on, lets go." Josh's head popped back into the house. "I'll see you later, mom! I'm going with Tyler now!" 

"Be safe, Josh! See you later!" 

"Bye Mrs Dun!" Tyler called into the house, smiling a little as he ran down to Josh's car. 

"You're real happy today, Ty. It makes me happy," Josh smiled slightly, leaning over the centre console to kiss Tyler a little. "I don't like it when you're feeling sad," he whispered, holding the back of his neck. 

"Yeah, well I got good reason today I guess." 

"Oh? What are those?" He asked, pulling away to start the car. 

"Well, I start therapy, which is something I've wanted for like, 5 years. I've got a cute boyfriend, an accepting family, and I'm getting taco bell at like 11 in the morning on a Saturday." Tyler's lips spread into a wide smile and he laughed, holding Josh's hand as it stayed on the gear shift. 

"You're so adorable," he smiled. "Hey, lets say after therapy, you come back to my house, my mom has to go to her sisters and my dad has work until 11pm tonight. Meaning... I have a free house all day..." 

"Perfect," Tyler whispered, kissing Josh's hand. 

They pulled up at Taco Bell and Tyler had a breakfast burrito, and a coffee, even thought Josh wanted him to get decaf so he wasn't bouncing off the walls in his therapy session. He drank it as it came in the car, and they carried on to his therapy session. On the way there, Tyler admired the Park of Roses, gushing at the views and telling Josh to look, which he couldn't because he was driving. 

"How about I take you there on a date one day, yeah?" 

"Really! You'd do that?" He smiled, reaching over to hugh his side as they pulled up to the traffic lights. 

A horn resounded in the lane next to them and a car with some snooty-looking rich kids rolled their window down. "Hey, fags! That’s disgusting! Save that for when you're behind closed doors." 

Tyler recoiled back a little from Josh and looked down. Josh just wound down Tyler's window and leaned over. "What's that? You don't like it when two boys are being romantic?" He called, smirking a little as he kissed Tyler full on the lips. "Oh, and technically we _are_  behind closed doors," he said, pulled away and winding the window up to continue driving. 

Tyler laughed softly. "Thank you. I wouldn't have known what to do," he murmured quietly. He got more quiet and shelled-in as they got closer to the therapy centre. 

"You okay, Tyler?" 

"Josh I'm scared." 

"It's okay to be scared. Being scared is okay. But I'll tell you what. I'll hold your hand the entire walk in. Until you get called in, I'll hold your hand." He smiled softly. 

Tyler sat quietly, closing his eyes as he tried to console himself. 

"Ready?" 

"Ready," he nodded, unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out of the car, holding onto Josh's hand tightly. 

"You want me to tell the receptionist your here? Or can you do it yourself?" 

"I think I can, but thank you, Josh," he said, keeping his head down. He didn't know why he was so nervous, he was getting the help he desperately needed. He shouldn't be scared. He should be happy. 

They walked into the centre and sw that it was mainly teens waiting in the area, and it made Tyler slightly sad. What made him sadder were that they all wore body covering clothing, long sleeves, black jeans, as if they were hiding what Blurryface had told him to do before he swallowed aspirin. Scars. He thought scars would probably have been the better thing to have rather than a hospital form with his only admittance being 'suicide attempt' written on it. 

He walked over to the receptionists desk, checking himself in. "U-uh...Ty-Tyler Joseph, appointment for 12pm," he said, wringing his hands a little. 

"Yes, we've got you here. You'll be called in via monitor, keep an eye on the screen," the receptionist said kindly, pushing herself away from the appointment book and back to her computer. 

"Thank you," he said, going back to Josh and holding his hand as he sat down.  

* 

Tyler walked into the room after saying his farewell's to Josh. His therapist was a female of medium build, she looked not much older than the receptionist. She had brown hair, tied tightly on the back of her head. 

"Okay, Tyler. This is your first appointment for CBT correct?" She asked, pulling out a notepad and beginning to note down his answers. 

"Yeah. Yeah, I've been trying for a while. Well I wasn't trying. I was suffering, but I didn't want to waste my parents time," he said softly. 

"Why would you think that it would have been a waste of time?" 

"I didn't think they'd support me if I told them when I was only fifteen," he bit his lip. 

"And you're 18 now?" 

"I will be on december 1st." 

"I see. Well, what would you like to _achieve_  from CBT?" 

"Uh. I guess, mental stability, only one voice in my head compared to two, the ability to want to live rather than die every day..." 

"Let's talk about the voices in your head," she said gently.  

"Well. I...It's been there since I was 14, really. When I was starting middle school. I was kind of cast out and bullied, and I felt worthless, and well this...this voice just came out of nowhere, and agreed with me. But it didn't go away, it stayed. The voice was like my only f-fren..." He said, his voice a little shaky. "He became apart of me, so I named him so I could at least _talk_  to him." 

"What did you name him?" 

"Blurryface," he said this confidently, taking a deep breath. "Because well, he is me, and he isn't me, because I never see his face." 

"So when Blurryface is here...does he look exactly like you?" 

"N-no. He's different. When he's here, when I picture him, I picture this character, a guy that represents all these things that uh... I'm insecure about. When I think about it, I think about these insecurities getting the best of me. I'm insecure about what I can do and can create with my hands, so I picture... somebody who looks exactly like me, but he's the opposite. He's...he's evil and cruel and vindictive. His hands and neck are always covered in black. As if what happens when he gets the best of me is that would rather attempt suffocation and strangling to make him go away. He's like a permanent reminder that I'm always going to be stuck with him, because he's never gone. He's always there. When I'm happy, he's there, waiting for my chemicals to lessen so he can make me feel bad." Tyler took a deep breath and only realised when he shut his eyes for the first time in what felt like five minutes, he was crying, wiping his face. "I'm sorry." 

"No, no. Don't be sorry, Tyler. It's good to talk. So you say that...this Blurryface, is just your dark thoughts?" 

"Y-yeah. I guess," he said, looking down at the floor. 

"And what do you usually do when you hear him?" 

"I cry. I go to the first private place and cry. I let him talk to me, I let him have his way. Then when he's happy with how miserable I am... he goes. As if nothing ever happened." 

"Well, Tyler. Our time is close to running out, but I'm going to give you a challenge, okay? For next time you see me in two weeks, I want you to create something. A poem, a story, a song, a drawing. Anything. Create something when you feel at your worse, or even when he is just there. It's proven to act as a distraction, and if you truly want to conquer Blurryface and get him gone, you'll need your distraction. You think you can do that for me?" 

"Absolutely," he said, standing up. "Thank you," he smiled, shaking her hand and leaving the room, seeing Josh standing up and waiting for him. 

"You okay?" 

"Feeling better. Let's go. I want to work on my 'homework' that the therapist gave me," he smiled softly, holding his hand and walking out to his car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you guys don't know what 'shave and a haircut' knocking is, its the   
> 'doo-doo-doo-doo-doo.... -doo-doo' knock thing  
> which i also learnt is offensive to mexicans  
> so to fellow mexicans reading this,   
> this wasn't supposed to be offensive ^^;;
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! i love reading your comments and seeing kudos & views go up. we're close to 1k as of uploading this (22/01) so ya, hopefully i get to 1k by the next chapter? c;


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> filler chapter, sorry :(

“So what was your homework, babe,” Josh asked, holding onto Tyler’s hand. 

“Well she said to write a song when I feel down. I have some ideas, but I’m not feeling down, I just want to do something for all of the times I did feel down. But I also want to write something for the other patients who I saw. I want to make them happy, y'know?" 

"Baby, that's so thoughtful. I'm sure they'll love it. Do you want to work on it now?" Josh kissed Tyler on the cheek gently, slowing to a stop as they approached the car. 

"Nah. Not right now. I want to spend some time with you first. I have 2 weeks to do it. I'll do it at school and home. Right now I want to spend time with you," Tyler said gently, putting his hand on the car doors handle and going to get in.  

"Wait," Josh said, spinning Tyler back around. 

"What is it?" 

"Wanted to kiss you," Josh grinned sheepishly, pressing his lips to Tyler's for a short moment, cupping his cheek. 

"You're cute," Tyler giggled softly, kissing him back. 

"You're cuter," Josh shot back, letting him get into the car, racing around to the drivers seat, starting the car. 

They were about halfway home when Josh spoke up again, turning the car radio down a little.  

"I need to visit the supermarket, I need to get some groceries for my mom and stuff, do you want to come in with me?" He looked at Tyler for a short moment, placing his hand on his thigh. "I want to dye my hair again. You can pick the colour if you come," he grinned, squeezing his thigh. 

"Oh...you're tempting. Can we get some snacks? And soda?" 

"Absolutely." 

"Then I'll come with you," he grinned.  

* 

They pulled into the supermarket parking lot, Tyler getting out and waiting at the back of the car for Josh to walk around, slipping his hand around his waist. "So what groceries do you need to get," Tyler asked quietly, looking down at the floor, smiling a little as he spotted his feet moved in sync with Josh's.  

 _L_ _eft right, left right, left right._  

"Well I need to get eggs, milk, some bread. The usual necessities for home and eating and stuff. Then we can get red bull, soda, snacks, junk food for us. Then my hair dye, which we'll get last." 

Tyler nodded in understanding. "Can I  push the cart?" he grinned, rushing over to the bay and fumbling to unhook the cart from the chain.  

"Absolutely baby. Means I get to control what I put in the cart. So no sneaking any snacks," Josh joked, coming up behind him and kissing his cheek. His hands came to rest on the handlebar of the trolley, effectively blocking Tyler in momentarily. 

"I love you," Tyler whispered softly, linking their fingers together and looking down at their hands. Tyler's tan hand contrasting against Josh's pale complexion in comparison. 

"I love you too, baby. Now come on, let's go grocery shopping," he grinned, saying it playfully as though he was making a game of it. Tyler pulled the cart out slowly, pushing it into the supermarket. "Right, first stop, aisle 7," Josh said, and Tyler followed him to the aisle, watching him put a few items in the cart. They went up and down every aisle, putting a few things in, Josh putting in a few personal items (deodorant and body lotion) along the way.  

"Alright, final stop. Hair dye. Want me to close my eyes?" 

"Nah. You're going to see it when we pay for it anyway." Tyler looked over the boxes of hair dye, looking at the more brighter colours than the duller ones. He looked at Josh, and then the boxes, picking out three boxes and trying to decide what colour he wanted to choose. "Do you always have problems picking out a colour, babe?" Tyler asked, who was still looking at the boxes. 

"Yeah, sometimes. "Oh! You're going to have to get a colour stripper or just some hydrogen peroxide to get my hair blonde so those colours will work," Josh warned,  reaching forwards and picking 2 boxes up – just to be safe. 

"Oh... I can't choose!" Tyler pouted, stomping his foot on the linoleum tiled floor. "Can't we get all three? That way, when your next colour washes out, all you have to get is some of the blonde hair stuff and you  can choose from the other two," he bargained, hovering the boxes over the cart, pouting and batting his eyelashes prettily. 

"Sure thing, baby.  Anything for you," Josh grinned, laughing as Tyler promptly _dropped_ the boxes in the cart and did a happy dance in the aisle, wrapping his arms around his neck.  

"Thank you, baby," Tyler giggled, laughing softly, peppering soft kisses to his expanse of skin, humming contently as Josh's hands came to rest on his waist.  

"Mm..hm... God...Tyler... I th-think her-e...is n-not the place to be workin...g me up," Josh stammered out, but Tyler just giggled gently. "But I like kissing you, baby. M'can't help it. You're too pretty." Tyler mumbled, continuing to press kisses onto his skin, biting a soft mark onto his pulse point, pulling away. "C'mon...let's go," he giggled, tugging on Josh's hand. 

"Baby, wait," Josh said quickly. "I need you to walk in front of me..." He murmured. "Got a bit of a problem..." He added, biting his lip as Tyler turned around and glanced over Josh's figure. 

"Oh.. Joshie..." He giggled. "Did you get like this 'cause of me?" Tyler cooed, letting Josh stand behind him as he started to push the cart to the pay & pack.  

"Yes... I told you to stop with those neck kisses of yours. And that bite... on my neck," he breathed out, resting his chin on top of Tyler's head. "Drove me crazy," he whispered.  

Tyler smiled slyly, then chuckled out, turning his face to look at Josh. "You just got...horny...in the haircare aisle of the supermarket," he teased, biting on his tongue to stifle louder laughter.  

"Hey....stop being mean..." Josh pouted playfully, staying close to the side of the cart as he placed things on the conveyor belt. "Technically, this was your fault," he jibed quietly, standing near the card reader as he pulled out his wallet. 

"But it's your fault too. You shouldn't be so pretty," Tyler smirked.  

They continued to toss the blame back and forth even after they bagged the groceries and walked back to the car, packing the bags into the trunk. "Lets go home then, baby. Have some alone time," Josh hummed, sitting in the drivers seat, holding on tightly to Tyler's hand and driving home.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mainly fluff because I can, hop you enjoy this  
> I've started work now, too so I'm gonna have more sporadic updates. Bare with me ♡

"Do you need any help with the bags, babe?"

"Nah, I can get them. You just open the door, and go up to my room. It's top of the stairs and turn left. Second door you pass."

"Okay, baby. See you in a few," Tyler giggled, blowing a kiss to Josh as he took his house keys from his hand, running to unlock the door he left the door open so Josh could walk in with the bags easily, sitting down in the centre of his double bed, which the cover was coincidentally space and alien themed.

He laughed to himself gently. His boyfriend was such a dork. But he loved him so he couldn't complain.

"Jooooooosh....come love me!" Tyler called, pouting a little. He heard footsteps on the stairs and he grinned, smiling brightly. Josh walked into the room, shutting the door.

"I'm here for you baby, I'm here now. Sit up a minute," he smiled, walking over to Tyler and kissing his lips for a short few moments. "What do you wanna do? Watch a movie?"

"Well...can we watch X-Files? I wanna watch what my boyfriend loves. So... I thought... Why not watch X-Files," he smiled, blushing a little.

"Sounds perfect, baby. Let me go grab the box set, okay. I'll get us some snacks too." Josh kissed Tyler on the forehead, ruffling his hair and leaving the room.

Tyler collapsed back on the bed, closing his eyes and smiling gently. He shot his eyes open when the doors quaked open again, Josh carrying a plastic bowl of popcorn, one inside that balancing cool original Doritos and cream and chives dip. In another hand he held a box set of season one of X-files, and balanced a six pack of Red Bull on top of that. "I could've helped with that!"

"I wanted you to relax," Josh said, putting their snacks on the bed and walking to the TV, turning it on and putting the first disc of the season in. He jumped back onto the bed, sitting behind Tyler, pulling him to lie flush against his chest, wrapping his arms around him. "You're gonna love this, baby," he said, hitting play on the TV controller.

The first episode started playing, and Josh started to mouth along to the words. Tyler looked up and smiled softly, holding his hands. "M'in love with you, Joshy," he whispered softly, not minding if he answered or not, he knew the truth anyway.

The first episode finished playing with the Pentagon Evacuation procedure sign and the ominous cigarette smoking man, Tyler was transfixed on the episode, letting out a soft quiet moan when Josh leant forward, nibbling on his jaw and neck. "J-Joshy..."

"It's payback for the store," he murmured, and Tyler could feel his smirk against his skin, biting a little bit harder and sucking the skin into his mouth, releasing it to show a small blossoming purple bruise. "Did you like the first episode?" He asked, not changing the episode when the credits played, the DVD would switch automatically when they finished rolling.

"Loved it. It was amazing. I like doing stuff with you, J," he hummed.

"What kind of stuff?"Josh grinned, kissing his neck sloppily. "Tell me?"

"I like sitting with you, talking, being quiet, kissing you, watching TV with you, going on late drives..." He listed all the activities. "I like...playing music with you...and being in school with you..." He smiled, squeezing his hand as he talked about school, remembering the last time he was actually in school.

"Well there's no need to worry about school anymore, baby boy. Because if it happens again, I'll deal with them myself."

"That's another couple things I like. I like when you're protective over me, and when you call me baby boy," he hummed.

"I call you baby boy a lot, Ty. What do you like about baby boy?"

"Well you only call it me...when we're alone, and intimate, and close. Makes me feel...special, safe," he whispered, turning in Josh's lap. "I love you, Josh," he murmured, holding his hands on the sides of his face, kissing Josh gently.

"I love you too, baby boy," Josh murmured in reply, catching his lip between his teeth. Tyler moaned gently, moving a hand to his shoulder, bracing the other on the back of his neck.

They held each other close, Josh bracing his hands on Tyler's waist, letting the kiss deepen, but only slightly. After a few moments of their soft kisses being exchanged, a few harder, more passionate ones included, Tyler pulled away, resting his forehead against Josh's. "I'm so glad I have you."

"Me too, baby boy, me too." Josh breathed, smiling when he saw, heard and felt Tyler giggle. "So what do you wanna do now? I mean we missed part of the second episode, but I'll be okay with missing it for you," he smiled.

"Well I kind of wanna work on my homework, but I haven't got my notebook with me. And I'd like your help with it. As inspiration, and you're my inspiration because you've been there for me, helped me and saved me, literally," Tyler murmured quietly. "I mean we don't have to, if you don't want to."

"Baby I'd love to. Don't worry about it." Josh said, sliding Tyler from his lap. "Let me grab some lined paper from the office. Wait right there, don't move okay?" He said, pecking his cheek and rushing down the stairs, coming back up with a notepad.

"Oh...Josh you're too kind to me." Tyler smiled, biting his lip a bit.

"Gotta do what makes my baby boy happy."

"Mmm, you being you makes me happy," he murmured softly. Tyler reached for a pen on Josh's side table, clicking it.

"Where do I start with writing a song?"

"Huh. Well. If you think about it, songs are just...poems, with music. Try writing some feelings, and then making them into a poem." Josh explained and Tyler nodded, putting the word "FEELINGS" in the centre of the page, drawing lines off it. "So how do you feel right now?"

"Well, I feel happy, cos I'm with you," he said, scratching the word happy onto paper. "And when I'm not with you, I'm sad because I'm lonely. Just like yesterday when you went home. I had a really great day, and then it came to an end because you went home." Tyler added those feelings onto the paper too.

"A-and how do you feel... When... People are mean to you, what do you do?"

"Well, I'm sometimes quiet. I'm sometimes sad, I mean I cry sometimes. When I told my mom that I was going out with you I expected her to force my faith on me again, like when we went on our first date." He said, mindlessly writing notes down.

"And when... Blur-Blurryface visits?" Josh said, sitting opposite him, watching as he sees Tyler lost in concentration. "What do you feel when you tell people, or your mom, or me, that he came and talked that day?"

Tyler was quiet for a minute. "I'm...scared. When I tell people that I talked to them. They think I'm crazy and they'll say that the good Lord will save me. But why would the good Lord have to save me, he shouldn't have done the deed and given me Blurryface," he said, clutching the pen, knuckles turning white. "And...and I'll... I'll cry, because I realise that living on this god forsaken earth means living with an entity in my mind. But I won't want people to worry so ill never...ever make a sound." Tyler exhaled a shaky breath, putting the pen down. Josh didn't notice the words he wrote on a different part of the page.

_You're scared when you say/You talked to them today/When asked your faith/You'll cry; no sound/Wipe the tears with your doubts/And hide again._

Tyler looked up at Josh, then back to the page. "You know, I only really...really write when I feel at my lowest," he said, still mindlessly writing his thoughts.

_Do you see?/I can't live this way/just write a song to play/just to stay alive/just enough to breath away/another day/another face/and I will lose another race/save me now/cause tomorrow's gone..._

He looked up. "I know what I want to call the poem...song..., J," he said quietly.

"Oh? What's that?" Josh sat up and looked at him.

He finished writing the sentence, looking up into Josh's eyes. "Cause tomorrow's gone... _Just Like Yesterday_."


	16. Chapter 16

It was now Monday, and Tyler's first day back at school since _the incident._ Josh was coming to pick Tyler up and take him in his car. Josh figured that if they went into school together as a couple, people would be far less likely to say anything mean to Tyler, because Josh was there for Tyler today.

Today Tyler was wearing black jeans, a black shirt and his floral kimono. It was a simple outfit, but he felt comfortable in it. Not to mention, Josh said he looked beautiful in his kimono whenever he wore it. Josh was wearing his X-Files shirt and black jeans.

As the car door opened, Josh looked up at Tyler. "You ready, Ty?" he said softly, taking his hand over the centre console and stroking the back of it gently.

"I'm ready," Tyler answered, squeezing Josh's hand. "Stay with me all day, please?"

Josh looked at their hands, nodding. "I'll stay by your side until you want me gone," Josh said, kissing his forehead and smoothing his hair. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Tyler smiled, biting his lip and relaxing in the car seat.

Josh turned the engine over and pulled out of Tyler's driveway, driving to the school. "What lessons do you have today?"

"None with you," Tyler pouted. "I've got...English, science... Art," he said, trying to list all the lessons. "I know I have a free period after Science. I'm going to go down to room 7."

"Can I come down with you?"

"S-Sure, I mean, I'm just going to be working on my song," Tyler shrugged. "Be nice to have some company, though," he added.

The car pulled up in the student parking lot and Tyler stiffened in his seat. Josh looked over at Tyler. He could see Tyler was scared, his eyes fixated on the school building and shaking his head. He could hear quiet mutterings of ' _no...no, no no..._ ' and his hands clenching and unclenching.

"Ty-Tyler, you okay?" he whispered. "It'll be okay, you'll be okay," Josh reassured. "C'mon, we'll take it slow. We've got time. One step at a time, okay?"

Tyler suddenly looked to Josh with wide eyes and a trembling lower lip. "Okay, okay... l-let's go," he said. Josh got out of the car first, slinging his empty backpack onto his shoulder and rushing around to Tyler's side, helping him out of the car.

"Let's put your bag on your shoulders," he said, helping Tyler. "There we go... Now... one step at a time," he said. "Do you want me to hold your hand? How about your waist," Josh asked, resting a hand on Tyler's lower back.

"Jus...Just hold on to me," Tyler said gently, leaning into the touch as Josh draped his arms around his waist. "D-don't let go," he stuttered, exhaling a shaky breath.

"Okay. We're going to start walking now. You still okay?" Josh asked, taking a slow step and letting Tyler follow him. Soon enough they were passing the parking lot and getting near the benches. It felt like, to Tyler, that all eyes were on him, on the suicidal boy who failed to kill himself. Only, Josh knew that nobody was looking at them. Tyler shuffled in closer to Josh and exhaled slowly.

"I-I...I'm sorry," he stammered, closing his eyes and trying to regulate his breathing.

"Nothing to be sorry about, baby," Josh soothed, wrapping Tyler in a tight hug and holding him closely. "You're scared, and it's okay to be scared. But you don't have to be scared, 'cause I'm here for you. If you're ever scared, then all you got to do is call me, or text me, or hug me, or hold my hand. I'll make sure you're never scared again," Josh whispered. "Because I care for you, and I love you, and I don't ever want to see you scared. Ever," he murmured.

Tyler pulled away and wiped stray tears. "I don't deserve you, you're so kind to me," he murmured.

"You deserve so much happiness, baby," Josh whispered, kissing his still damp cheeks and smiling at him with affection. "Because you've gone through so...so much, and you deserve every ounce of happiness." Josh took a moment to look at Tyler, smoothing his hair and holding his face. "Are you ready to continue our walk into school? I'll walk you to English."

Tyler nodded, holding Josh's hand and walking past all of the eyes that felt like were burning holes into him. They stepped into the school building and walked to Tyler's locker. The last time they were there, Tyler had read hurtful words. This time, there were more notes on his locker. "W-what's this," Tyler said, letting go of Josh's hands and exhaling as he picked up a note.

_Hey, Tyler! Glad you're still around. Never forget you're loved by everyone. Love, Ashley._

_Hi there. I know we don't talk much, but I like that you're still here. From, Jamie (I sit next to you in English)_

_Tyler, you're such an amazing person. Josh is so lucky to have you. And you're lucky to have Josh. From, Brendon_

_Hey, Tyler. You've probably read a lot of notes like these. Open your locker, now._

Tyler looked slightly confused, putting his locker combination into his padlock (19 to the left, 22 to the right, 12 to the right, and 16 to the left), opening it and laughing as helium balloons floated out as he opened the door. Tyler smiled, looking at Josh. "You plan this, baby?" Tyler asked gently, taking Josh's hand.

Josh smiled sheepishly and nodded. "Yeah...Cause, you know. The last time you were here, there were unhappy feelings. What better way to forget those by giving you nice memories," Josh said, kissing his hair.

"I love you. Thank you so much," he said softly, hugging him close. "Let's go to English," Tyler said, picking up the notes off his locker and placing them carefully into his notebook. "Going to keep these, read them when I need to be happy," Tyler said, shutting his locker door and resetting the combination, holding onto Josh's hand as they walked up the stairwell to the English block.

They stood outside Tyler's classroom, Tyler holding onto both of Josh's hands. "I'll come back, right here, and take you to science, okay? I love you," Josh said, kissing Tyler's lips gently and pulling away.

"I love you too," Tyler said quietly, hugging Josh and slipping into the classroom, waving a goodbye to Josh before he slipped away to his lesson – if he was going to go to his lesson.


End file.
